”I’m not ready for the Yellow Pages,” says Azmi Bishara, the exiled former leader of Arab nationalist party Balad, when I quiz him about his itinerary on his visit to South Africa. That seemingly cryptic statement, I soon discover, is characteristic of his dry humour, which surfaces when Bishara puts aside politics and speaks about his young family, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
This was supposed to be the moment Ahmed Bel Bacha was waiting for — the end of his five years in prison at Guantánamo Bay. Instead, the Algerian is fighting to stay put rather than return home. Bel Bacha, reportedly slated to leave Guantánamo Bay soon along with three of his countrymen, fears he will be tortured back in Algeria
The Republic of Congo heads into a second round of voting on Sunday, but many there are wary of electoral chaos and the fact that their lives aren’t improving much, despite their country pumping out billions of Âdollars from oil every year. The remaining 84 seats in Congo’s 137-seat Parliament will be fought over after a first round of voting in late June gave President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s Congolese Labour Party a huge victory and a further stranglehold on his rule.
He should go to Washington more often. Gordon Brown may have been dreading his encounter with George W Bush, knowing that every appearance Tony Blair made alongside the American president cost him votes by the crateload, but the recent joint press conference at Camp David actually did Brown a favour
”Forty-one encounters, 39 penetrations,” stated an elegant Parisian art dealer when asked by a journalist from Marie Claire about his gallivanting on Meetic, the first European dating website. This French company has, in only six years, spread its cupid wings to 17 countries, including China and Brazil; made online dating available in 12 different languages.
More than 50 years have passed since Uruguay won the World Cup in the immense stadium in Maracana, Brazil. Ever since, betrayed by reality, we have sought solace in memory. If we could learn from this, all would be well, but that isn’t the case: we take refuge in nostalgia when we feel that we have been abandoned by hope, because hope requires daring and nostalgia requires nothing.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to prosecute former police minister Adriaan Vlok and former police commissioner Johan van der Merwe, along with three former police officers, was inevitable. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission legislation is clear: if alleged perpetrators failed to apply for amnesty, or were denied it, they would be subject to prosecution.
Convicted child killer Theunis Olivier should spend the rest of his life in jail, the Cape High Court heard on Monday. Testifying in court, Eileen Siebert, mother of murdered six-year old boy Steven Siebert said Olivier deserved to die in prison. ”Steven posed no threat to him [Olivier], and yet he choose to kill him for his own pleasure,” she said.
A coal mine collapsed in central Utah after a 4.0-magnitude earthquake, trapping six miners, Fox News reported on Monday. The United States Geological Survey reported a 4.0 earthquake occurred on Monday morning at 2.48am local time, 156km from Salt Lake City, Utah. A magnitude 4 quake is capable of causing moderate damage.
The body of an American tourist who died on a solo rock-climbing excursion on Table Mountain was found on Monday afternoon, rescuers said. David Andretta (31) had planned to scale the mountain on Sunday while his wife took a walking route up Plattekloof Gorge, spokesperson for Wilderness Search and Rescue Anwaaz Bent said.