Just days after being acquitted on child sex charges, Michael Jackson faced fresh legal woes on Thursday: he is being sued by a woman who claims she was attacked by a dog that escaped from a home he owns. A husky called Flash, who lives at Jackson’s family home in Los Angeles, allegedly bit a woman in Apil.
South Africa’s ruling Africa National Congress’s (ANC’s) documents suggest that government is beginning to embrace the Democratic Alliance (DA) economic policies, says official opposition leader Tony Leon. "We have persuaded the ANC to adopt significant DA policy proposals, such as our ‘prisons Policy’", Leon says.
When it comes to smuggling animals across the US-Mexico border, US Wildlife Inspector Ed Marshall has seen it all. Exotic birds given Valium or tequila so they stay quiet through Customs inspections. Sleeves moving with hidden reptiles. A pair of lions named Mario and Juana, in honour of their discovery during a marijuana bust.
Despite the vast changes that have occurred since 1994, the us-them narratives have remained comfortable laagers to understand and engage with the world, writes Mike van Graan.
NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK:
In My Country, based on Antjie Krog’s novel on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, falls short of the intense inwardness and self-scrutiny of Krog’s book, writes Shaun de Waal.
A string of car bombings in quick succession killed at least 17 people in a Shi’ite district of Baghdad, as two top United States officials insisted the insurgency was under pressure. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari on Thursday opened a high-profile visit to Washington aimed at soothing US worries about the war.
Sri Lanka’s government signed a deal on Friday to share international tsunami aid with the Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said, despite bitter protests by critics who say it threatens the country’s sovereignty. The plan was promoted as an opportunity for the government to forge peace with the guerrillas as the country recovers from the December 26 tsunami.
Authorities described this week’s raids on San Francisco pot clubs as one of the largest drug crackdowns in the area in recent memory, and said the arrests were the first step in uncovering a major international drug operation. United States Attorney Kevin V Ryan said agents raided three pot clubs that operated as fronts for marijuana and Ecstasy trafficking.
President Robert Mugabe has congratulated police for a so-called urban renewal campaign that has left up to 1,5-million people homeless and sparked outrage around the world.
The success of land reform in Malawi will depend on the cooperation of traditional leaders who remain sceptical of the process because they believe the new legislation will erode their authority, said civil society leader William Chadza. Chiefs in Malawi have traditionally had the authority to allocate land to their subjects.