An aura of sanctity is descending on the world’s most powerful men. Last weekend the finance ministers from seven of the G8 nations promised to cancel the debts the poorest countries owe to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The hand that holds the sword has been stayed by angels: angels with guitars rather than harps.
Arsenal star Robin van Persie will spend another fortnight behind bars following a rape allegation after a Dutch judge today granted prosecutors extra time to hold him. The 21-year-old striker has already spent three nights in custody in Rotterdam since being arrested on Monday after a woman claimed he launched a sex attack on her late on Saturday.
The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto is busier than it has ever been, with people turning out to celebrate Youth Day, its chief curator said on Thursday. The museum preserves the memories of events surrounding the fateful march from the Morris Isaacson school in Orlando on June 16 1976.
Johannesburg’s emergency services are assessing the damage caused to the Rand Club on Thursday after a fire broke out on the presmises late on Wednesday night. Emergency services spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said the fire began at about 10pm and caused severe internal damage to the historic club.
The government that Moscow has installed in Chechnya admitted on Wednesday that there were more than 50 mass graves on its territory. It said that up to 60 000 people had lost a relative or friend in the disappearances that have blighted the republic for the past five years.
It might appear to be somewhat of a problem in his chosen occupation. But Todd the Human Cannonball insists a simple fear of flying did not merit his being sacked. Todd — 26-year-old daredevil Todd Christian — had no fear of the swift 12m flight he took when he was fired by a cannon high above the ring at Britain’s Cottle and Austin Circus.
Myanmar’s Supreme Court has begun hearing the junta’s case against former premier and military intelligence boss Khin Nyunt, who was sacked in October and accused of corruption, legal sources said this week. ”His legal proceedings in the Supreme Court have started,” one lawyer following the case said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded on Wednesday that
Sudan’s government disarm militias terrorising people in Sudan’s Darfur. In a report to the Security Council, Annan warned that militias were still roaming Darfur, chasing people from their homes and harassing others in camps
Japan and France have agreed to develop the technology for a new supersonic commercial aircraft that could cut the flying time between Tokyo and New York by almost half to six hours. Japan’s trade and industry ministry said the countries would each invest about 100m yen ( 000) a year over three years on research for the plane.
One of the most notorious murder weapons in modern history, the ice-pick that killed Leon Trotsky, appears to have been found, 65 years after it was apparently stolen from the Mexican police. The daughter of a former secret service agent claims she has the steel mountaineering instrument, which is stained with the blood of the Russian revolutionary.