An aura of sanctity is descending on the world’s most powerful men. Last weekend the finance ministers from seven of the G8 nations promised to cancel the debts the poorest countries owe to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The hand that holds the sword has been stayed by angels: angels with guitars rather than harps.
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Arsenal star Robin van Persie will spend another fortnight behind bars following a rape allegation after a Dutch judge today granted prosecutors extra time to hold him. The 21-year-old striker has already spent three nights in custody in Rotterdam since being arrested on Monday after a woman claimed he launched a sex attack on her late on Saturday.
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma pleaded with the youth on Thursday not to divide the African National Congress (ANC) by criticising President Thabo Mbeki for sacking him. ”Phansi ngo Mbeki. Phambili ngo Zuma,” [Down with Mbeki. Up with Zuma] the crowd chanted earlier as Zuma took a lap of honour around Nelspruit’s packed Matsulu stadium.
The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto is busier than it has ever been, with people turning out to celebrate Youth Day, its chief curator said on Thursday. The museum preserves the memories of events surrounding the fateful march from the Morris Isaacson school in Orlando on June 16 1976.
Africa needs at least -billion a year to deal with children orphaned by HIV/Aids, the United Nations and the African Union said on Thursday. More than one in 10 children in Africa are already orphaned with numbers expected to hit more than 50-million children by 2010.
Unheralded Harmony Gold athlete Sipho Ngomane won the 80th running of the Comrades marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on Thursday and at 23 years old became one of the youngest champions.
Johannesburg’s emergency services are assessing the damage caused to the Rand Club on Thursday after a fire broke out on the presmises late on Wednesday night. Emergency services spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said the fire began at about 10pm and caused severe internal damage to the historic club.
The government that Moscow has installed in Chechnya admitted on Wednesday that there were more than 50 mass graves on its territory. It said that up to 60 000 people had lost a relative or friend in the disappearances that have blighted the republic for the past five years.
It might appear to be somewhat of a problem in his chosen occupation. But Todd the Human Cannonball insists a simple fear of flying did not merit his being sacked. Todd — 26-year-old daredevil Todd Christian — had no fear of the swift 12m flight he took when he was fired by a cannon high above the ring at Britain’s Cottle and Austin Circus.