Japan was plunged into political turmoil this week when the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, was pushed into calling a snap election that risks destroying his party. The crisis was prompted by radical plans to privatise the post office, which Koizumi has put at the heart of a structural reform programme.
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The Education Laws Amendment Bill currently before Parliament is clear proof that Minister of Education Naledi Pandor’s commitment to quality education is empty rhetoric, DA education spokesperson Helen Zille said on Sunday.
All 121 people aboard a Cypriot airliner died on Sunday after it smashed into a wooded hillside near Athens after air-force pilots said the crew of the Boeing 737 appeared ”doubled up” in the cabin. Greek television broadcast footage of the smouldering wreckage of the plane, with its tail fin sticking out of the earth, as firefighters searched for bodies among the smoking wreckage.
Squinting into his binoculars, William Fowlds scans a vast, grassy plane where a busy dairy once stood. The cattle and sheep have given way to herds of grazing antelope. Out of a knot of thorny bushes, a family of elephants emerges. For more than two centuries, farmers like Fowlds have forged a living from the rugged and arid land of South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
The African state of Angola, emerging from 27 years of civil war, is attracting increasing quantities of foreign investment in its oil industry and is on the path to becoming one of the world’s biggest crude exporters. Angola is set to double its production of oil in the next three years to reach two million barrels per day in 2008.
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma has settled in Johannesburg, in a R3,6-million home in the leafy suburb of Forest Town, The Star newspaper reported this weekend. The Financial Mail has reported that a trust recently bought the property, Idle Winds, for R3,6-million.
The Golden Lions finished their Currie Cup first round on a major high, walloping the defending Currie Cup champions, the Blue Bulls, 46-17 in a one-sided clash at Ellis Park on Saturday. The Lions showed a rare glimpse of their talent, grabbing every opportunity and overshadowing a strong Bulls pack.
Orlando Pirates advanced to the next stage of the Supa 8 when they hammered Silver Stars 2-0 in the quarterfinal game played at the Absa Stadium, in Durban, on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Lamontville Golden Arrows collected maximum points when they beat Dynamos 3-0 in a Castle Premiership encounter, also in Durban.
Wayne Rooney scored against his former Everton teammates as Manchester United launched their latest Premier League challenge with an impressive 2-0 victory at Goodison Park on Saturday. United began with three useful away points against an Everton side that finished fourth last term.