To Australians, it is the linguistic equivalent of beer and barbecues — but the ubiquitous greeting of ”mate” was in danger of being banned at the nation’s centre of government. In an edict from a senior civil servant, security staff at Australia’s national parliament were told to stop using the greeting ”G’day mate” when admitting visitors and politicians.
Condemning the Scorpions’ raid on the office of the attorney of former deputy president Jacob Zuma, the General Council of the Bar of South Africa on Friday called on them to return everything they had seized as soon as possible. The raid appeared to violate the principle of attorney-client privilege, the GCB charged.
After Bafana Bafana’s 4-1 ”roasting in Reykjavic” against Iceland, coach Stuart Baxter on Friday announced he was left with three options to lift spirits and form before next month’s critical away World Cup qualifying game against Burkina Faso.
He lived by the gun and he died by the gun. Now the late writer Hunter S Thompson is to be blasted from a cannon from the back garden of his home in the hills of Aspen, Colorado. Thompson’s ashes have been packed into firework casings and will be dispersed from 34 different shells fired from a gun barrel mounted on top of a 150-foot high monument.
About 4 000 people have fled to Chad in the past eight days because of attacks by unidentified armed groups in the Central African Republic, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. The new arrivals told members of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that they were fleeing from violence in the northwestern Paoua region.
Burundi’s Parliament overwhelming elected a former rebel leader president on Friday, culminating a three-year peace process after almost 12 years of civil war in the central African country. Pierre Nkurunziza’s election had been expected, as his Force for the Defence of Democracy, once Burundi’s largest Hutu-led rebel group and now a political party, controls both houses of Parliament.
As the BTK serial killer, Dennis Rader thrived on having the last word during a 17-year slaying spree that claimed 10 lives. But as family members of the victims took their turn at the microphone on Thursday to confront the killer during his sentencing hearing, Rader could do nothing but listen as they vented their anger.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sending a team to Harare next week for talks ahead of a key meeting that will decide whether to expel Zimbabwe from the lending club, the country’s finance minister said on Friday. ”We are being considered at the IMF board meeting on September 9 and these are routine consultations,” said Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa.
The Tshwane Metro Council has been ordered to issue and pay for advertisements admitting that its marketing campaign referring to Tshwane as ”capital” was misleading. This was the effect of a judgement by the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa after a hearing on the matter by its Advertising Standards Committee.
Injury-plagued Juventus shoots for a record-equalling fifth title on Saturday when it takes on perennial rival Inter Milan in the Italian Super Cup, the country’s top preseason trophy. The match at Turin’s Stadio delle Alpi between the Serie A champion and the Italian Cup winner will also test the form and strength of two of the favourite teams in the league campaign which kicks off on August 27.