Australia have fired the first shot in a psychological war of words with New Zealand, claiming the All Blacks have passed their peak before the World Cup has even begun. New Zealand are strong favourites to win the tournament starting next month in France, but the Australians suspect the All Blacks have misjudged their timing.
Burundi’s acute political deadlock and the collapse of peace talks have raised fears that the nation might fall back into the deadly conflict that devastated the country for more than a decade. "I’m scared because I have this feeling that the country is going backwards instead of forwards," said Cyrille Barekebuvuge, a shopowner in the centre of the capital.
Tuareg-led rebels in Niger said late on Tuesday they had killed 15 government soldiers in a clash at Gougaram in the West African country’s remote Saharan north, where uranium is mined. The rebel group said a large convoy of military vehicles had advanced towards the town of Iferouane on Monday, prompting Tuesday’s clash.
Sharp showed a 29mm-thick prototype TV on Wednesday, which the Japanese electronics maker said was the thinnest, lightest and lowest energy-consuming liquid crystal display (LCD) in the world. The 25kg display, which has a tuner and other TV features encased in its panel, weighs about half of current LCD panel TVs and consumes about half their power, according to Sharp.
Algeria saw foreign trade for its mining sector post positive results in 2006 for the first time in 11 years, with a surplus of ,58-million, the Energy and Mines Ministry said on Tuesday. The official APS news agency said it was ”the first positive balance” since 1996.
As many as 60 people within the CIA read a cable referring to two of the 19 hijackers involved in the attacks on America on September 11 2001 before the event, yet the information was not shared with the parts of the organisation able to do anything about it, according to the agency’s own internal investigation.
The John Vorster Avenue offramp from the N1 south highway in Centurion will be closed to traffic for the greater part of Wednesday after a toxic spill, Tshwane metro police said. Spokesperson Louise Britz said the highway remained closed after about 10Â 000 litres of sulphuric acid spilled on to the offramp when a truck overturned on Tuesday afternoon.
Fruit bats that roost in caves are apparently the source of Marburg virus, which causes a deadly hemorrhagic fever related to Ebola virus, researchers said on Tuesday. Tests of 1 100 bats of various species turned up the virus in only one common species of fruit bats.
Desperate efforts to save 181 Chinese coal miners from two shafts flooded with water and mud faced near impossible odds on Wednesday, as a safety official said mine owners had failed to anticipate the threat of disaster. The miners have been trapped since Friday, when a river dyke burst in torrential rain, sending water surging into the shafts.
Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has told the United Kingdom media that he expects an exciting clash when South Africa takes on Scotland in the Tennent’s International Challenge match at Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen on Wednesday. ”I think this will be a game of contrasting styles, which I think will make the whole affair exciting,” said Parreira.