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Even though informal contacts between Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have produced a number of detailed options for ending the country’s political and economic crises, the two sides remain a long way off from formal talks.
"The dirtiest politician in SA?", "Mabona: the family connection", "Mabona, million-buck man". These were some of the headlines that accompanied a series of <i>Mail & Guardian</i> stories in the past few months. The "exoneration" of Mpumalanga’s public works minister is a whitewash based on a flimsy and insubstantial investigation.
The Pentagon has pulled out a 400-strong military team which was searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, but US officers insisted on Thursday that the hunt would go on. It was an important element of the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group, which has spent seven months hunting for the arsenal that was the justification for the invasion.
In a three-week occupation of the biggest Palestinian city the Israeli army has killed 19 people, wrecked buildings and confined tens of thousands to their homes in a futile search for the leader of ”the heart of the terror networks”.
Two of the biggest players in Hollywood have clashed over the issue of relations with Cuba, in a dispute that has highlighted President Bush’s campaign against Fidel Castro. The actor Robert Duvall has said that he will never make another film for Steven Spielberg’s company, DreamWorks, because the director recently visited Cuba.
Opposition leaders in Haiti called a two-day general strike on Thursday in an attempt to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after clashes between presidential supporters and opponents left two dead and more than 20 injured in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was flat in noon trade on Friday after a volatile morning on which the bourse lacked major drivers. Dealers said most of the morning’s moves had been stock specific, with no clear trends. At midday, the all-share index was up a marginal 0,07%.
There’s nothing like a big shiny trophy to give closet nationalists the sporting hots. The same shabby politicos who spent their days at Patrice Lumumba University struggling through the all-in-pictures version of <i>Das Kapital</i> now embrace victories as proof of their nation’s manifest destiny.
India and Pakistan agreed to talks this week to resolve their differences and expressed confidence about settling their dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which brought them to the brink of war two years ago.
The premier league title chase is developing into a battle between the Soweto heavyweights and Western Cape-based clubs. The northerners have had the upper hand in the past, winning five league titles (Sundowns three, Orlando Pirates two) while the Cape has won only once (Santos).