Somali elders on Friday pressed for a truce between Islamic militia and a United States-backed warlord alliance after months of deadly violence in the lawless capital as gunmen from both sides reinforced positions. With tension high in Mogadishu, elders scurried to secure an elusive ceasefire.
Anyone for rattlesnake ice cream? Japan is no stranger to bizarre frozen deserts and this year is no exception with cow tongue, Indian curry, cheese and even cactus among the flavours on offer for courageous taste buds at an annual event at the Namjatown theme park.
The official death toll from lightning strikes and powerful storms rose to 76 on Friday as annual summer monsoon rains tore through India ahead of schedule, authorities said. Seventeen more deaths were reported from late on Thursday night in three Indian states on top of 58 people who died earlier.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has underscored the World Economic Forum on Africa’s focus on developing agriculture to absorb unemployment and fight poverty on the continent. Speaking in a plenary session on Friday, he said the central issue confronting Africa was job creation.
I’m drifting off at the Guardian Hay festival as Al Gore tells us how to save the planet — turn off the lights, cut down on private jet trips, listen to me, just about sums up the message. Gore had started off so smart and funny, too — the politician as stand-up comic with a brilliant schtick on failure.
The offices at the top of a converted warehouse in the Edinburgh port of Leith are a bit of a squeeze. As he talks, Mel Young’s head seems almost in the skylight, but there is no containing the boundless plans for his current project, the Homeless World Cup.
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By tradition, the heavens beneath which Italy’s Azzuri train for a World Cup is of a blue as deep as the team’s shirts. But this campaign at the retreat in Coverciano on the edge of Florence began under a weeping, leaden sky. ”Even God wants to piss on us,” shrugged a security official at the gates.
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It had meant getting up at 5am and travelling for almost three hours across Switzerland, but for Maria da Silva Hasler the effort was worth it. ”I am felicissima — as happy as can be!” said the 39-year-old Brazilian, accompanied by her Swiss husband, Lukas.
It might be a surprise that Jean de Villiers will captain the Springboks in a non-Test match this weekend, but not that South African rugby is still trying to drag itself out of the gutter. Last week, two of the biggest problems bit the dust: the president and his love child, the ill-conceived, over-hyped, over-funded and under-performing Southern Spears.
South African Olympic gold medallist Ryk Neethling is distraught after his Sandton home was robbed early on Friday morning and some of his medals stolen. Neethling’s agent Fiona de Souza told the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> on Friday that the swimmer is "devastated" about the robbery.