Britain has high hopes of delivering a gold medal at one of the most endangered Olympic sports — the modern pentathlon. The event, one of the original sports dating back to the 1896 Games in Athens, has survived in the shadow of the International Olympic Committee axe.
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The timing and manner of National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka’s resignation speak of political pressure, not just a personal desire to move on, political analysts agreed on Monday. ”I am sure it is a pressurised resignation. He must be exhausted,” said political analyst Nic Boraine.
Ngcuka exit a matter of pressure
The Mpumalanga Parks Board has won a court judgement against the owners of a wildlife sanctuary who imported eight lions into the province illegally. The conservation authority removed the lions from Enkosini Wildlife Sanctuary in January 2003 after it was discovered they had been imported without a permit.
There is no need for alarm at an expected budget deficit in the education and social development departments of the Eastern Cape, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel said on Monday. ”The scenario was being attended to,” Finance Ministry spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said in a statement.
Farmers’ groups from the European Union, Japan and Canada said on Monday they are very worried about the direction in which talks on bringing down global trade barriers are heading. Representatives of a coalition of farmers’ federations said their concerns focus on the drive for market access by bringing down tariffs.
Al-Jazeera expressed ”outrage” on Monday at Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari’s criticism of the satellite news channel’s coverage of Iraq and threats to close its Baghdad bureau. ”Al-Jazeera would have hoped the Iraqi government would embark on its new term with initiatives to lift media restrictions,” the station said in a statement.
Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor failed to attend a court hearing on Monday to defend himself against a bid by two Nigerian amputees to force their government to hand him over to international justice. The amputees allege that Taylor had a role in their ordeal and have asked for a judicial review of Nigeria’s decision to grant him political asylum.
The families of Kenyan truck drivers kidnapped in Iraq have criticised their government and urged France to step in and mediate the release of the hostages, whose execution was stayed on Monday to allow negotiations. An Iraqi militant group calling itself Holders of the Black Banners last Wednesday kidnapped the Kenyans and four other men.
William Kekana was found guilty in the Temba Circuit Court on Monday on all 14 charges relating to the hijacking, abduction, murder and rape of Janine Drennan and members of her family. Judge Monica Leeuw described Kekana as a ”pathological liar” who tried to blame his now-dead accomplice.