Iran’s new President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, suffered his first political setback on Wednesday night when the conservative-dominated Parliament rejected four of his proposed Cabinet ministers, including the nominee for the strategically vital oil portfolio.
Uganda, a country regarded as a pioneer in the fight against HIV/Aids, was on Wednesday accused of ”serious mismanagement” of funds intended for the campaign. The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria suspended grants to the country worth hundreds of millions of dollars after an investigation found flaws in a government agency’s accounts.
People in England and Wales are more likely to commit suicide on a Monday than on any other day of the week, a tendency consistent with data from other countries, Britain’s Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. A review of 34 935 suicides found that about 17% of the deaths occurred on Mondays.
A powerful typhoon was closing in on Japan on Thursday, grounding planes and bringing warnings of torrential rain, landslides and high waves in large areas of the country. Typhoon Mawar, packing winds of up to 144kph near its centre, was approaching Japan’s main island of Honshu at a speed of 15kph.
In a report also harshly critical of weekend polls in Ethiopia’s remote Somali state, the European Union said on Thursday that Ethiopia’s disputed May 15 elections did not meet international standards in several key respects, including post-vote investigations into fraud.
South African retail group Massmart on Thursday reported a 16% increase in headline earnings per share to 341 cents for the year ended June 2005, from 293,1 cents for the corresponding period a year ago. A final dividend of 72 cents per share was declared, making a total dividend of 183 cents from 159 cents a year ago.
A radical Shi’ite cleric called on his followers on Thursday to end clashes with Shi’ite rivals so that stalled talks on a new Constitution can proceed. Clashes continued for a second day after the cleric’s office in Najaf was burned and four of his supporters were killed.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Thursday of wrecking the prospects of peace after soldiers killed five militants and officials unveiled plans to expand the largest West Bank settlement. The shootings were Israel’s first deadly operation since the historic pull-out of settlers from Gaza.
Actor Brock Peters, best known for his heartbreaking performance as the black man falsely accused of rape in the American movie <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, died on Tuesday at his home after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 78. Peters was diagnosed with the disease in January and had been receiving chemotherapy treatment.
Americans are getting fatter at a pace never seen before while government-led attempts to hold in bulging waistlines are doomed to failure, a report claimed on Wednesday. More than 119-million people, 64,5% of the US population, are now considered overweight or obese, according to the Trust for Americans’ Health.