Inmates at a major Japanese prison found marijuana growing naturally on the grounds, but instead of getting high, they went to the wardens. The prisoners found about 300 hemp shoots growing on the exercise ground of Abashiri Prison, located on Japan’s northern-most island of Hokkaido, Jiji Press and the <i>Yomiuri Shimbun</i> said.
A Somali reconciliation conference aimed at ending 16 years of war and attended by thousands was due to wrap up on Thursday after six weeks of talks that were marred by relentless violence in Mogadishu. ”It was the first time such a large number of Somali delegates in favour of peace met,” said clan elder Bile Mohamud Qabowsade.
South Africa is facing the possibility of state Aids patients developing ”major resistance” to currently prescribed antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, Health Director General Thami Mseleku said on Thursday. ”The challenge is going to be huge,” he told a parliamentary media briefing.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula will appeal an order by the Pretoria High Court that he must rebuild the shacks of a group of Pretoria squatters — or face arrest. His spokesperson, Trevor Bloem, said on Thursday Nqakula would appeal against the decision of Judge Bill Prinsloo.
Camps teeming with frustrated refugees in Sudan’s Darfur region have become militarised and present a danger that cannot be ignored, a United Nations official was quoted as saying on Thursday. The UN’s emergency relief coordinator said the presence of weapons in the camps made for a potentially explosive situation.
A report into the Virginia Tech campus shootings in which 33 people died, including the killer who shot himself, has criticised the university for its tardy response and for failing to pick up warning signs regarding the gunman’s mental health.
The United Nations reported on Monday that there had been a ”frightening” explosion in opium production in Afghanistan with Helmand province, where Britain has 7 000 troops deployed, leading the way. A record crop means that the country now accounts for 93% of the world’s supply and the situation is getting worse daily despite billions being spent to eradicate the trade since 2001.
Club rugby in the northern hemisphere has long been derided as the poor cousin in world rugby. But the post-World Cup exodus of a raft of top-flight internationals from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will help confound that long-standing belief.
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Jonny Wilkinson, in the Hollywood film of his life, would have kicked that World Cup-winning drop-goal against Australia and promptly announced his retirement. After all, how could he top that? But as the England flyhalf has discovered during the last four years, life isn’t always like they tell you it is in the movies.
Sri Lanka’s prolific spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was on Thursday ruled out of the inaugural World Twenty20 Championships next month due to an elbow injury. ”Murali is affected by an elbow injury and he will be out for four to six weeks,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan said.