It is good to be president, not the least because it inspires rock stars and others to buy you presents like 800 suits, poker sets, chain saws and 500 bikes. President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney on Monday released the financial disclosure forms they are required by law to file every year.
Thousands of people attended the funeral service of late public works minister Stella Sigcau at her birthplace of Lusikisiki on Tuesday. Those attending the ceremony ahead of her cremation included President Thabo Mbeki, Cabinet ministers and traditional leaders.
Children’s yoghurt drinks bought by health-conscious parents in Hong Kong contain unhealthily high levels of sugar, a news report said on Tuesday. A survey by the city’s consumer council found that sugar was added to many of the popular yoghurts and drinks to make them more appealing to sweet-toothed customers.
Israel’s new Defence Minister, Amir Peretz, has defended a wave of killings and arrests of Palestinians accused of attacks on Israel, including the latest suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, as ”a very important achievement in the war on terror”. Since April the army has killed about 45 Palestinians, including five children, in scores of raids on the West Bank.
It is an anniversary that China wants to forget. Today marks 40 years since the start of the cultural revolution, one of the most insane episodes of the 20th century when children turned on parents, pupils tyrannised teachers and hundreds of thousands died in the name of class war.
Todd Hardwick’s cellphone has not stopped ringing for a week. May is always the busiest month for Florida’s handful of licensed alligator trappers but three fatal attacks in six days have left residents of the sunshine state jittery. ”They’ve just gone crazy about gators,” said Hardwick, whose company has a contract with the state to remove ”nuisance” reptiles from lakes and canals.
The world of the booth babe, it is fair to say, has been rent asunder by recent events in Los Angeles. Midriffs have been covered, skin-tight tops have been loosened and hem lines have plummeted. The annual E3 fair at the hulking LA Convention Centre decided this year to enforce a long-standing, much-ignored rule: exhibitors must abide by the norms of common, adult decency.
Eritrea on Tuesday for the first time confirmed it would attend talks in London this week aimed at resolving border tensions with its arch-rival Horn-of-Africa neighbour, Ethiopia. The announcement came a day after the United Nations Security Council gave Ethiopia and Eritrea until the end of the month to ease the situation.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday lashed out at world media coverage of the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme, accusing news organisations of deliberately distorting the issue. "The world media empire sees it as expedient to say Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, while the propagators know it is a lie," state television quoted the all-powerful leader as saying.
Police have found the decomposing bodies of 13 people who drowned in the Limpopo River while apparently trying to cross from Zimbabwe into neighbouring South Africa earlier this year, state media reported on Tuesday. It was not clear if those found were part of a larger group who were reported to have drowned in the flood waters of the Limpopo in January.