A wave of Taliban attacks across Afghanistan killed 29 people, including four international soldiers and nearly two dozen militants, military officials said on Sunday. The violence came after a week of intense fighting as the Taliban’s al-Qaeda-backed insurgency, launched nearly six years ago, intensified into the summer.
Clothes of the late Augusto Pinochet are on sale at a central Santiago tailor’s shop, but only to customers identified as the Chilean dictator’s supporters, local media reported on Saturday. About 20 pieces of Pinochet’s wardrobe are on sale at D’Adriany tailor, mainly suits and jackets he wore between 1980 and last year when he died, his elder son Augusto Pinochet Hiriart said.
A year or two ago, an old friend of mine, Jones, was sitting in her home when she heard the sound of a coconut hitting concrete. Intrigued, she wandered outside. Her house borders Steurhof station in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, and, hearing a commotion, she peered over her wall.
Two Somali broadcast journalists were killed on Saturday in the capital, Mogadishu, where murder and armed attacks have become almost daily events, hours after four officials were shot dead. Ali Iman Sharmarke, the head of local private media group Horn Afrik, and one of his staff, Mahad Ahmed Elmi, were killed in separate incidents.
At least 35 people were killed after violent rainstorms triggered floods and landslides in various parts of China, state media reported on Saturday. At least 25 people were killed and 37 went missing in north-west China after continuous downpours began to hit cities and counties in Shaanxi province on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Thousands of people have fled their homes on the southern Philippine island of Jolo as troops pursue Muslim militants blamed for killing more than 20 soldiers, officials said on Saturday. Jolo brigade commander Colonel Anthony Supnet said his troops would continue to hunt the gunmen, even though they had broken up into smaller groups and scattered.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang never told her axed deputy Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge that she would "fix" her, her department said on Friday. "We have confirmed with the minister that no such statement was ever made," the department said in response to an earlier statement by Madlala-Routledge at a media briefing.
<i>African Writing Online</i>’s inaugural issue features Caine Prize winners Brian Chikwava, Helon Habila, local writer Zukiswa Wanner and others. Percy Zvomuya speaks to the editor, Afam Akeh.
Authorities in a west of Scotland town have been forced to take drastic measures to stop green traffic lights being vandalised, the <i>Herald</i> newspaper said on Friday, suggesting religion was to blame. The municipal council has put protective wire grilles over every green light in Larkhall, near Glasgow, because vandals have smashed 205 lights since 2004.
Potential jurors in a Los Angeles court were forced to do a double-take on Thursday when their court-room duties were enlivened by a jolt of star power in the shape of Brad Pitt. The Hollywood heart-throb reported for jury duty in Los Angeles, his publicist confirmed, before eventually being discharged after the case he was due to hear ended in a plea-deal.
Zimbabwe has cancelled the operating licence of one of its three cellphone firms for having a majority foreign shareholding in breach of local laws, the state telecommunications agency said on Friday.
Money is pouring in for the 2010 World Cup as the country anticipates an economic kick from hosting the world’s largest sporting event. With government providing billions of rands to upgrade infrastructure and depressed inner-city areas, there are indications that the private sector is following suit, particularly in Gauteng.
Sitting at a small clinic in the Talangai area, north of Congo’s capital, Brazzaville, Elise Diamba holds the hands of her malnourished two-year old grandson. "Gérard’s mother stopped breastfeeding him when he was seven months," the 61-year old grandmother says. "He hadn’t even started walking. Since then, his health has not been good."
The challenge for all card-carrying ANC members at their national conference is how to deal with the fact that the ANC has brought South Africa into disrepute as a result of internal squabbles — and how to prevent that from happening in future. Regrettably, South Africa has failed to create an electoral act that allows citizens to elect their own president directly, making him or her accountable to the public as opposed to a party or party faction.
The hourly chimes of Big Ben are to fall silent for a month while maintenance work is carried out on one of London’s most famous landmarks, officials said on Wednesday. Work will include replacing the strike train, which controls the hourly bell and the going train, which operates the clock.
Claims that a Great White shark had been seen off the England’s south-western coast have been exposed as a fake after the holidaymaker who claimed he saw the fearsome creature said it was a sham. Kevin Keeble’s photograph of a menacing-looking fin poking out of the water sparked Jaws mania around the county of Cornwall.
Every August we are expected to be hyperalert to a range of activities occurring under the banner of Women’s Month. It is one of the benefits of democracy that we no longer have to celebrate freedom-struggle anniversaries under the hostile gaze of police and soldiers. Now we commemorate them with the state’s sanction and budget, as we should in a country where we elect representatives to government.
A British woman has had her stereo confiscated after neighbours complained about her blasting out Dolly Parton hits at top volume around the clock. Diane Duffin reportedly made life a misery for people living near her in the Armley area of Leeds, northern England, by playing country and western hits at all hours of the day and night.
Ethiopia’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said government troops had killed 200 rebels and captured hundreds in the restive predominantly Somali southern region of Ogaden over the past month. "Over 200 anti-peace elements have been killed by the military," the ministry said in a statement, adding that militants had "been destroyed" in a successful operation.
I recently resigned after 10 and a half years of service. I have a very good pension fund with my current employer. My new employer does not have a pension fund or any other type of fund. We have thought about taking a lump sum and putting it into our bond, but don’t know if that would be the right option. Would it be better to transfer it into another pension fund, asks Candice Mitchell.
The world has experienced record extreme weather conditions including unusual floods, heatwaves, storms and cold snaps since the beginning of the year, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday. Preliminary observations also indicated that global land-surface temperatures in January and April reached the highest levels recorded for those months.
Hordes of French gourmets joined forces at an annual snail festival over the weekend to munch their way through a record 100 800 gastropods, organisers said on Monday. "We’ve beaten all our previous records, despite the rain," said Jacky Pommier, who helped organise the festival, in Digoin, east of Paris.
A debate is raging in Germany about the government’s policy on negotiating the release of hostages taken abroad after the interior ministry implicitly acknowledged that secret ransom payments were made to kidnappers. Following a string of kidnappings of German nationals, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq, the government is reportedly discussing ways of implementing a tougher strategy in an apparent attempt to reduce the frequency of the seizures.
Although Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s recent price cuts are projected to halve the state’s income in the short term and will further cripple the economy, business leaders remain reluctant to openly criticise his policies. A large proportion of businesses in Zimbabwe are expected to report losses within the next quarter, which will have a severe effect on the revenue generated by the state through corporate tax.
"Determined" is the adjective that seems to fit Linda Olga Nghatsane best. What else do you call a public health practitioner who built up a successful farm in just three years, all in order to combat malnutrition? Last week, her determination was recognised when she won not only the business entrepreneur award, but also the overall title of Shoprite Checkers/SABC2 Woman of the Year 2007.
Media watchdog Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) on Monday slammed Zimbabwe for passing a controversial law allowing the government to monitor phone calls, faxes and emails. "Zimbabwe had already given itself one of the world’s most repressive legislative arsenals as regards press freedom" the Paris-based body said in a statement.
Finns stayed invincible to keep their world champion titles in male and female sauna sitting, beating Russian, American, German and Turkish competitors on their home ground, organisers said on Monday. Timo Kaukonen won the male championship for the third year in a row, staying in a sauna heated to 110 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes and 26 seconds.
South Africa’s workers in the petroleum sector said they were hopeful that talks with their employers later on Monday could end their strike over pay, which has severely affected fuel delivery. "We have a meeting tonight [Monday] beginning at 8pm with the employers of the workers and we are hopeful," a union spokesperson said.
Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica on Monday assured South Africans that an end to the strike in the liquid fuels sector is in the offing. She asserted: "I initiated meetings with both the employer and employee organisations last week to stress the importance of resolving this salary dispute as a matter of urgency."
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, criticised for driving his country to economic ruin, on Monday received a cordial welcome at an anti-poverty summit in this Malaysian resort. "Mugabe is actually participating in all the events," a delegate said, adding that the latter was "hugged and kissed" by some participants.
Holden Roberto, one of the fathers of Angolan independence, has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 84, the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) announced on August 3. Roberto formed the FNLA in the 1960’s as one of several nationalist movements pressing for an end to Portuguese colonial rule.
A 94-year-old Australian great-great-grandmother has become the oldest person in the world to earn a master’s degree, local media reported on Thursday. Phyliss Turner, described by one of her sons as having "an amazing brain," took her master’s in medical science at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.