At least 90 people were killed and 180 wounded on Friday as United States troops and Iraqi forces charged into Samarra in a first effort to reclaim troublespots before Iraq’s planned elections, while a shocked nation buried 34 children killed by car bombs.
The Gaza strip was bracing for a fresh Israeli military assault after a Hamas rocket attack on an Israeli town on Wednesday killed two children, one an infant. Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to respond ”with severity” to the attack on the town of Sderot, in which another 20 people were wounded. Late on Wednesday evening missiles ploughed into the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing two Palestinians.
A suicide attacker detonated a huge bomb that ripped through a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in an eastern Pakistani city during Friday prayers, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, officials said. Police said that hundreds of people were inside the Zainabia mosque in the centre of Sialkot city at the time of the blast, which severely damaged walls and left body parts scattered inside.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: In Collateral, Jamie Foxx is a taxi driver who takes pride in getting people to their destinations in good time; Tom Cruise is the professional hit man who is determined to finish his night’s roster of assassinations on schedule. Shaun de Waal reviews.
Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, just hours after around 100 Israeli tanks moved deep into the area in a hunt for militants. The latest campaign, which began three days ago and aims to stop rocket attacks on southern Israel, intensified after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave a green light to a larger operation codenamed ”Days of Penitence”.
The Constitutional Court on Friday denied the Port Elizabeth municipality leave to appeal a court ruling preventing the eviction of 68 people living in shacks on private land in the city. The case began when 1 600 people in the suburb of Lorraine sought an eviction order to have the shack dwellers removed.
Four policemen were behind bars on Friday following an exposé on South African Broadcasting Corporation television showing policemen demanding bribes from prostitutes and their clients in Johannesburg suburbs, said Gauteng safety and security minister Firoz Cachalia. Seven policemen were identified and suspended after the television programme.
South Africa must speedily address inequitable land ownership patterns to avoid Zimbabwe-style farm invasions, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned. The ICG, which deals with conflicts around the globe, said South Africa faced rising tension over land and should act quickly to avert a grabbing of farms.
It appears that the knight in shining armour for the arts needs to be reminded that the power to appoint, to remove, to suspend, to do something at the NAC, resides with him, comments Mike van Graan.
With two dance movies coming out in October, we quiz you on movies about dancing (musicals don’t count) …