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Playing soccer, often clandestinely and using rolled-up rags for balls, raised the spirits of South African political activists jailed on Robben Island over three decades ago. Now the former prisoners’ experiences will give hope to millions in a new movie.
Set the dining table, light some candles and crack open a nice bag of wine. Serving guests wine from a plastic pouch or box may no longer be a social faux pas, say some in the wine industry — as consumers warm to packaging that is seen as kinder to the environment than glass bottles.
Najwa Petersen, accused of murdering her showbiz husband Taliep Petersen, has started her 30-day observation and evaluation period at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. Last week, Magistrate Robert Henney denied bail for 45-year-old Petersen and one of her three co-accused, Abdoer Raasiet Emjedi.
Malawi will have its first-ever modern mining project located in the northern town of Kayelekera in Karonga by early next year if plans by an Australian mining company, Paladin (Africa), are successful. However, controversy has been dogging the project since its hatching stages.
"I do not know if a winner will emerge from the signing of the economic partnership agreements [EPAs] under the current conditions, but I know for sure that Africa cannot be the winner," says Amadou Ba, who heads the international negotiations division at Senegal’s Ministry of Commerce.
South Africa’s public broadcaster will this week launch a rolling news network that aims to provide an African perspective in a market previously dominated by Western broadcasters. South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) News International will be officially launched by President Thabo Mbeki on July 20.
Scientists have discovered the underground remnants of an ancient lake in Sudan’s arid Darfur region, offering hope of tapping a precious resource and easing water scarcity, which experts say is the root of much of the unrest in the region.
A powerful bomb ripped through a crowd of opposition supporters in central Islamabad on Tuesday night, killing at least 13 people and ratcheting up the stakes in Pakistan’s snowballing crises. The city police chief blamed a suicide bomber but witnesses thought the bomb was a timed device.
An airliner carrying 175 people crashed and burst into flames on Tuesday in São Paulo after landing at Brazil’s busiest airport in driving rain. The state governor said all aboard were likely dead. The São Paulo fire department said at least 200 people, including some on the ground, were dead at the scene. There was no immediate news of survivors.
"It is a nasty experience, which I do not want to be reminded of. But if you try to keep it to yourself, it will remain a shock for a long time. I cannot even explain the pain I felt after being told that I was carrying dead bodies in my womb," says Sesedzai Manzanga, a Harare teacher, as she recounts giving birth to a dead set of twins two years ago.