The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, who heads the world body’s refugee agency, arrived in Chad’s capital on Friday from Sudan’s conflict-wracked Darfur region across the border. He is scheduled to hold talks with President Idriss Deby as part of a 10-day assessment devoted to the conflict in Darfur.
Florida on Friday mopped up after a deadly bashing from Hurricane Katrina, and braced for another hit as the weather system swirled over the Gulf of Mexico on a track that would take it back to the storm-weary state. At least four people were killed late on Thursday as the hurricane made landfall near Miami.
The African National Congress’s political philosophy, which sees no distinction between the state and party, is partly to blame for its stance on the Oilgate saga, says opposition leader Tony Leon. He said the ANC’s mix of constant financial problems, on the one hand, with Jacobinic political ideology and pure greed on the other is a deadly combination.
Some soldiers retrenched without retraining used their combat skills in crimes such as cash heists, a military trade union official said on Friday. She was speaking to journalists in Pretoria about Sasfu’s concerns about the low representation of black soldiers in the South African National Defence Force’s middle management.
Jürgen Kögl, the businessman reported on Friday to be one of former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s benefactors, is considering taking the matter to court, his lawyers said. ”Our client denies any wrongdoing whatsoever,” read a statement from Johannesburg law firm Cheadle, Thompson and Haysom.
”I still hear the sounds of people being beaten in prison. I will never forget it. It’s terrible,” said opposition MP Roy Bennett. He was addressing the Johannesburg Press Club this week, en route home from a two-month visit to Britain, where he spent time recovering from eight months in Zimbabwean prisons.
The London Zoo unveiled a new exhibition on Thursday — eight humans prowling around wearing little more than fig leaves to cover their modesty. <i>The Human Zoo</i> is intended to show the basic nature of human beings as they frolic throughout the August bank holiday weekend.
A random police check in the early hours of Friday in a Lisbon neighbourhood known for its nightlife found 90% of drivers had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit. Of the 653 drivers that police stopped between 2.30am and 7.30am, 585 had a blood-alcohol level above 0,5g per litre of blood, police said in a statement.
Mobile operator Vodacom has announced an unprecedented cut in call rates of up to 50% during the peak call time of 5pm to 8pm on weekdays. Dubbed Vodacom’s "Happy Hours", the new tariff, to be launched on Sunday, will see a standard on-network call rate of R1,49 per minute for pre-paid and contract customers.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) enthusiastic support for former deputy president Jacob Zuma went down like a lead blimp at this week’s Cape Town launch of the jobs coalition touted as a United Democratic Front-style grassroots movement.