The Philippine Islamist bandit group Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility on Sunday for an explosion on a ferry near Manila on Friday that killed one person and left 184 missing. President Gloria Arroyo dismissed the claim as ”an afterthought”, despite threats Abu Sayyaf made last year to target passenger ferries.
Washington has ordered the hunt for Osama bin Laden to be intensified along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the hope of capturing him before the US presidential election in November. George Bush has approved a new plan to step up the hunt for the al-Qaeda leader and for Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban.
Troops from the United States and France were rushing to Haiti on Sunday night in a scramble to fill the power vacuum left after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country with US help. A force of US marines was scheduled to arrive on Sunday night, with a French contingent of between 120 and 140 troops due to join them on Monday morning.
For no particular reason that I can fathom, the Dirty Duck on the Waterside in Stratford-upon-Avon is shut tight at this crucial time of the year. It is a mighty shame that this is all happening now, when my dear friend and colleague, Sello Maake kaNcube, is about to strut the Stratford boards for the first time, in the tricky role of Othello.
Nedcor executives walked off with pay checks worth R109-million in 2002, having presided over the destruction of a quarter of the bank’s capital last year. Last week the bank announced a staggering R1,6-billion loss. Were Nedcor figures massaged to enrich executive carpetbaggers?
There is a fundamental contradiction in the government’s economic approach. It has adopted a counter-cyclical fiscal policy with an eye to stimulating growth and development through increased spending and investment. State spending is directed in key areas to boost employment and relieve poverty.
While he may have lost his appetite for dabbling with sinister weapons and rubbing shoulders with politically colourful characters, Libya’s Colonel Moammar Gadaffi has not lost his penchant for keeping everyone guessing.
”In a recent personal opinion piece Rob Turrell makes certain allegations and claims about the system of higher education in this country, students’ use of the right of access to information, and teaching and learning in the faculty of law at the University of Cape Town. His personal account, which purports to be of general significance, must be corrected by the facts, which I set out below”, writes Hugh Corder.
Kaizer Chiefs won through to the second round of the lucrative Absa Cup when they scored a hard-fought 3-1 win over Sundowns at the Odi stadium on Sunday. Chiefs led 1-0 at half-time. The first half was electric. Both sides produced quality soccer that saw the action swing from end to end.