When rebels entered Chad’s capital, Ndjamena, I was told to get there as quickly as possible. Half a week later, at the end of a 2Â 000km chase across Central Africa by bus, train and taxi, the lofty promises of increased transport investment intoned at countless African summits rang very hollow in my head.
Kenya’s fragile power-sharing deal to end a bloody post-election crisis suffered a setback on Monday as a row broke out over the role of prime minister in the proposed coalition government. President Mwai Kibaki and his rival, Raila Odinga, signed the pact last month to end political turmoil that left hundreds of people dead.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma arrived at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday amid a heavy security presence and the sound of camera shutters as photographers attempted to shoot pictures. A heavy police presence was visible around the court buildings while journalists packed the press gallery trying to get a view of Zuma.
South African stocks were slightly lower at noon on Tuesday, pressured by miners on faltering metal prices, but improved sentiment in overseas markets restricted losses, traders said. At noon, the JSE’s broader all-share index had given up 0,19% at 30 056,80.
The United States space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from a seaside Florida launch pad on Tuesday to deliver part of a long-awaited Japanese space laboratory to the International Space Station. Piercing the still of night with a thunderous boom and a flash of white-hot flame, the spaceship lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre at 2.28am local time.
A cyclone that has battered coastal areas of northern and central Mozambique has killed at least 16 people and hundreds more have been injured, rescue services said on Tuesday. Joao Ribeiro, deputy director of the national disaster-management institute, said that six people were killed by Cyclone Jokwe between Saturday and Sunday.
Sun Moon Lake has been compared to a classical Chinese landscape painting with its crystal waters reflecting surrounding snow-capped mountains. But a hotel building boom around the mountain resort in central Taiwan has locals and environmentalists worried the unspoilt beauty of the lake, which draws three million tourists a year, might be ruined.
Two bombs exploded in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, one outside a government office, killing at least 20 people, police and officials said. Well over 500 people have been killed in Pakistan this year in a campaign of suicide bombings, which intensified after troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in July.
Ethnic minorities and indigenous groups will suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate change, according to a report published on Tuesday. The study by Minority Rights Group International found that even though minorities and indigenous peoples were hardest hit, they were often the last to receive help and relief.
Back in the wild Sixties and Seventies, a Formula One hotshot would arrive bleary-eyed at his hotel, check out the nearest club and order a large drink or three. In 2008, his corporate-conscious counterpart is more likely to check into the gym and order an early call. ”I have busy testing days, busy marketing days and I have training days,” said Lewis Hamilton.