The Pakistani prime minister-designate has survived an attempt on his life by a suicide bomber who came close enough to his car to kill the politician’s driver and at least four other people, and spraying shrapnel into a crowd of his supporters. About three dozen people were wounded, some seriously, in the blast on Friday.
Excited by the scent of blood, a dozen sharks dart about in a frenzy as a researcher dips a pole in the sea and squirts out a clear, yellowish substance. Within seconds, the sharks jerk their snouts away and vanish. Researchers say they finally have found a potent repellent to drive away sharks, after testing off Bimini island in the Bahamas.
A new chairperson and vice-chairperson have been appointed to the board of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), acting chief executive Thokozani Magwaza said on Friday. Saths Cooper was appointed chairperson and Vusi Twala as vice-chairperson, Magwaza said in a statement.
The amount involved in the parliamentary travel voucher scam could reach R16-million, Speaker Baleka Mbete said on Friday. She was speaking at a media conference the wake of this week’s court appearance by seven travel agency owners and employees, and speculation that MPs could be next on the Scorpions’ list.
Fourteen alleged mercenaries including eight South Africans will go on trial in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on August 23 charged with an attempted coup in the West African state, Attorney General Jose Olo Obono announced on Friday. The alleged coup was thwarted when 15 men were arrested in Malabo and 70 in Harare.
Colin Powell, the United States Secretary of State, made a surprise visit to Iraq on Friday and admitted that Washington is becoming increasingly concerned about Iran’s attempts to gain influence in the south of the country. There has been evidence that Tehan has re-embarked on a programme to develop nuclear weapons.
United States President George Bush’s re-election prospects received a jolt on Friday after news that rising oil prices have hit the spending power of American voters to an extent not seen since the recession of three years ago. The price of crude hit 21-year highs on the New York markets.
John Kerry opened up a modest lead in the United States presidential race on Friday after a four-day Democratic convention in which he cast himself as a cool-headed warrior. A telephone poll gave the senator a 5% point advantage over President George Bush, but that poll was taken before Kerry’s nationally televised speech on Thursday.
Forty years after independence, Malawi is still unable to ensure food security for its population, which is growing at a rate of 2% a year, according to the country’s national statistical office. More than one million, or more than 10%, of Malawi’s population are facing starvation this year, the World Food Programme has announced.
The pope will call on leaders of the Roman Catholic Church on Saturday to attack feminist ideologies that assert that men and women are fundamentally the same. The Vatican is concerned that this belief is eroding what it regards as women’s maternal vocation. A paper on the subject is due to be published on Saturday.