French philosopher, journalist, writer and academic Jean-Francois Revel, who died in hospital near Paris on Saturday night, was a brilliant nonconformist and bête noire of the French left. Revel, whose real name was Ricard, began his long and varied career as a teacher of philosophy in Tlemcen, Algeria.
Paul Spiegel, who fled the Nazis as a child during World War II and returned to Germany to eventually become the influential — and at times contentious — head of its main Jewish organisation, has died. He was 68. Spiegel died overnight of cancer in a hospital in Duesseldorf where he had been seriously ill for weeks.
Peru’s government on Sunday sought to play down a diplomatic rift with Venezuela after announcing the withdrawal of its ambassador from Caracas amid accusations of interference in Lima’s domestic affairs. ”I’m confident that an attitude of equanimity will persist,” Peruvian Foreign Minister Oscar Maurtua said.
Italy’s Marco Melandri took the lead on the last lap to win the Turkish Motorcycling Grand Prix in Istanbul on Sunday for the second year in a row. Australian Casey Stoner looked all set to become the youngest MotoGP winner to date but lost the lead in the closing corners to take second ahead of American Nicky Hayden.
The Wildebeest all but secured a home final in the Vodacom Cup when they thumped the Mighty Elephants 71-20 in Port Elizabeth this weekend. The win took the Natalians eight points clear of the Blue Bulls, who moved into second place on the log with a 45-35 win over Western Province at Loftus Versfeld.
West Indies captain Brian Lara has demanded his batsmen rediscover their killer instincts in the remaining five one-day internationals against Zimbabwe. The West Indies enjoyed back-to-back wins by five wickets and 98 runs against the tourists at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Saturday and Sunday.
Most people decorate their offices with potted plants, portraits of their families or humorous desk tidies, but a businessman in China has splashed out on something that conveys an altogether more forceful corporate image: a MiG fighter plane. In a swoop on eBay, Zhang Cheng has snapped up the plane for 730 (about R148 300).
It is suffering from a crippling trade embargo and is locked in a war of words with its neighbour, the Russian Federation. Things are so bad for Georgia that the tiny Caucasus state has decided only one thing can rescue its image: Jennifer Lopez. It has offered her 000 to go to Georgia to celebrate Independence Day on May 26.
The last time Sinnathurai Kandasamy saw his wife was a little more than two weeks ago, when she left home for a hospital check-up. Hours later Sinnathurai found his wife in a mortuary. A bullet had blown her cheek away. Her eye was missing. Gone too were her earlobes and fingers — chopped off for the gold jewellery she adored.
It is being billed as The Great American Boycott 2006. On Monday, international labour day in the United States, thousands or perhaps millions of people are expected to join in a nationwide boycott to protest against proposals that would toughen existing immigration laws.