A stream of Iranians, many chorusing a demand for greater freedom, voted yesterday in a presidential election marred by violence and dismissed by the US as unfair. In Tehran, election officials reported a solid turnout for a contest between seven candidates in which the number of voters has been defined by religious rulers as paramount.
Two KwaZulu-Natal girls have been left traumatised after witnessing their father eat the flesh off their dead mother’s face on Friday morning. One of the girls, a seven year old, had also been stabbed in the head by the father. As police apprehended the father, he suddenly choked, became unconscious and died.
Modelled on the 1988 ”Mandela at 70” campaign for the then imprisoned leader, ”Suu Kyi at 60” involves demonstrations at virtually all Burmese embassies to protest the imprisonment of a leader who won 82% of the seats in Burma’s last general election in 1990, but has never been allowed to take office.
Once praised for their studiousness, Japan’s teenagers are gaining a less wholesome reputation, for promiscuity. Official figures show that Japanese schoolchildren are having more sex than ever before, and that many are shunning condoms, unaware of the risks of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Defending champion Retief Goosen was among five players who escaped with only minimal damage and remained under par at a US Open which turned into a horror show for some of the world’s best golfers. Goosen looked unflappable and unstoppable as ever until the slightest misses led to two bogeys in his final two holes.
What does the truth look like? Google, the company last week confirmed as the biggest media firm on the planet, rather hopes that it reads something like this: WO 2005/029368. According to that patent, Google is for the first time planning to rank news stories according to their accuracy and reliability as well as their topicality.
The JSE Securities Exchange roared to a record high on Friday, propelled by higher commodity prices and spill-over buying from Wednesday’s interrupted futures closeout. The gains came despite a firmer rand. By 12.08pm, the all share index advanced 0,8% to 14 323,94, having earlier touched an all-time high of 14 346,42.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il said on Friday that the communist country was willing to return to nuclear disarmament talks in July if the United States ”recognises and respects” his country. He added, however, that his country needs ”further consultations with the United States.”
New World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz on Thursday said the international community could do more to help Darfur, the troubled region of Western Sudan. Wolfowitz said he was ”certain that the bank has a role to play” in the reconstructing Darfur, calling the situation that prevails there currently a ”post-genocide situation”.
Women’s soccer should promote ”lovely looking” players to attract more sponsors, according to Uefa president Lennart Johansson. ”If you see a girl playing on the ground, sweaty, with the rainy weather and coming out of the dressing room, lovely looking, that would sell.”