Powerful Islamists on Thursday announced an expansion of their control across Somalia, despite signing a recognition deal with the powerless transitional government aimed at maintaining a lull in the lawless African nation, officials said. In addition, they changed their name from Council of Islamic Courts to Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia, which will rule the Horn of Africa nation
Israel on Thursday postponed a planned incursion into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, apparently to allow negotiations to continue over the fate of a kidnapped soldier, media reported. Any further movements into northern Gaza, where troops have already rolled across the border in a bid to free the conscript, have been delayed, public radio said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Thursday repeated his refusal to allow United Nations peacekeepers into the war-torn Darfur region, saying such a move would be an "occupation". "We shall not allow international forces to enter Darfur," al-Beshir said in a speech to mark the anniversary of his coming to power in a coup in 1989.
The public perception of the diamond industry remained poor and it couldn’t be said with complete confidence that the perception was "all utter nonsense", De Beers chairperson Nicky Oppenheimer said in a speech released on Thursday. De Beers is the world’s largest diamond miner, 45% held by Anglo American.
A 31-year-old woman who wounded a British soldier with her stiletto heel after he tried to break up a row was ordered on Wednesday to pay him £170 in compensation. Mark McCay (23) was taken to hospital with a bloody cut after he was hit on the head by Lisa Ashworth’s shoe in the early hours of July 1 2004.
A report by Willie Hofmeyr, the Eliot Ness of the Highveld, has revealed that the paying of bribes is commonplace. Of the respondents polled, 73% had paid bribes to avoid paying for water and electricity; 72% for having telephones installed; 65% for customs avoidance; and 55% for getting a driver’s licence. Lemmer is impressed by his compatriots’ chutzpah.
The South African Congress of Trade Unions is concerned that the latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) again show only very slow growth in formal employment, despite the growth in the economy in the past six months, it said in a statement on Wednesday. According to the QES, formal employment rose by about only 300Â 000 in the year to March 2006.
Zimbabwe’s labour movement on Tuesday said it is finalising plans for nationwide protests to press for realistic wages, stoking up tensions in a country already on knife edge because of a deepening economic and political crisis. Zimbabwe’s economy is on a free fall, with inflation pegged at 1 193,5%.
Margaret Beckett, Britain’s first female Foreign Secretary, revealed on Wednesday that she uttered a rather undiplomatic swear word when Prime Minister Tony Blair offered her the job last month. Pressed on whether the word began with "f" or "s", she admitted it was an "f".
South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday that despite the recent turbulence in international markets, the central bank was of the view that growth prospects remain sound both in South Africa and in the rest of the world. He said the inflation threats were likely to subside given the resolute determination of central banks around the world to tighten policy.
The Zimbabwean government has gazetted a Petroleum Bill that seeks to establish a Petroleum Regulatory Authority that will regulate and license persons in respect of retailing, producing and procuring petroleum products, the state-owned <i>Herald</i> newspaper reported on Tuesday.
France is set to unveil a reorganisation of European aerospace giant EADS in the next few days amid sustained efforts by the government to clear the air of controversy over production problems, communication breakdowns and share dealings.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered currency at the weekend tumbled by more than 50% against the United States dollar on the parallel market for foreign currency that is the only sure source of hard cash for both individual and corporate buyers in the country. Zimbabwe is grappling an acute foreign-currency shortage.
Hard-line Muslims in southern India have launched a campaign to dissuade youths from watching too much World Cup action, saying they had "gone mad" over football. "Wherever you go, you see [youths] wearing jerseys of various teams. It’s like idol worship, which our religion doesn’t promote in any form," said Sattar Pathallur, secretary of the Sunni Students Federation.
South African media group Naspers on Tuesday reported a 63% increase in its core headline earnings per ordinary N share to 696 cents for the year ended March 2006 from 427 cents for the 12 months to March 2005. Naspers declared an annual dividend per N share of 120 cents, up 71% from 70 cents previously and 24 cents from 14 cents per unlisted A ordinary share.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) said in a statement on Monday that it rejected claims by two Sunday newspapers that SARS customs officials at the Johannesburg International airport (JIA) were working with criminal syndicates who target foreign diplomats upon their arrival in South Africa.
The world’s largest steel group Mittal Steel on Monday denied that it would sell its 52% stake in Mittal Steel South Africa as part of the deal to merge with world’s second largest steel maker Arcelor. "We firmly deny this rumour and it couldn’t be further from the truth," said Mittal Steel spokesperson Paul Weigh in a statement.
No strategic equity partner is being contemplated for state-controlled South African Airways (SAA) "at this stage", Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin reports. "The airline industry is a difficult and highly competitive one. To meet these challenges the [public enterprises] department is continually attempting to improve its risk management in regard to SAA."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to try to push poverty reduction back onto the group of eight (G8) agenda in a speech on Monday, warning it will take "hard work for years to come" to tackle extreme poverty in Africa. Blair was expected to restate his commitment to the aims set out last year at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=soccer_world_cup_2006"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/272488/icon_focuson_wc3.gif" align=left border=0></a>The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is to submit questions to all national departments of government in South Africa about which politicians and officials have gone to Germany during the World Cup at taxpayers’ expense. This follows a report that the KwaZulu-Natal transport department was sending a delegation to look at the German transport system.
Are we on the threshold of a new age — that of knowledge societies? The scientific upheavals of the 20th century have brought about a third industrial revolution, that of the new technologies, which are essentially intellectual technologies. This revolution, which has been accompanied by a further advance of globalisation, has laid down the bases of a knowledge economy.
Ungoverned and ungovernable since 1991, Somalia is once again receiving the kind of attention it was burdened with a decade ago, when international peacekeepers tried unsuccessfully to bring order to the chaos-torn country. The United States and the Arab League have redoubled their efforts to create a dialogue between the transitional government of Abdullahi Yusuf and the Islamic Courts.
Gay and lesbian people took to the streets of European cities on Saturday in a mass demonstration of pride, in numbers varying from a couple of hundred in Zagreb to hundreds of thousands in Paris. Demonstrations and marches also took place or were planned in Lisbon, Rome, Valencia and Zwolle in The Netherlands.
The United States government has secretly monitored banking transactions around the globe since the September 11 2001 attacks, officials said on Friday, defending the programme as a crucial part of the war on terror. It is the latest in a series of covert measures that is likely to spark fresh concerns about potential privacy infringements and Americans’ civil liberties.
The rand fell on Friday to the lowest point against the United States dollar since January 2004, a day after the South African government announced a multi-year record deficit for the country’s current account. In European trade in London, the rand fell as low as $0,1328 — a level last seen on January 16 2004. By early afternoon in London, it stood at $0,1331.
Feeling more happy than usual this particular Friday? You should be, according to a scholar in seasonal disorders at a British university. Cliff Arnall has analysed such factors as outdoor activities, nature, social interaction, childhood memories, temperature and holidays — data gathered over a period of 15 years in interviews with 3Â 000 people around the world.
Somalis, weary of failed attempts to restore peace, expressed scepticism on Friday that the deal signed between the government and Islamic courts would end fighting for good in the shattered African nation. Although the hastily clinched deal signed on Thursday fell short of addressing the nitty gritty of power-sharing, it managed to extract a pledge to end clashes.
Celebrating a half century of dealings with Africa, China’s policies still wear the cloak of ideology but are increasingly driven by a cold-eyed self-interest. When it tied the diplomatic knot with Egypt in 1965 Beijing was speaking of mutual respect and mutual benefit — a refrain it maintained for the next 40 years or more.
"I was invited to join the Native Club last week, so that should put paid to all those horrible rumours that the Native Club is racist, ie for black intellectuals only. I know that to many a blacks-only thing sounds terribly familiar, but in a democratic multiracial society, we have the right to decide," writes Gogo Evita Bezuidenhout.
Thank you for your application to join the newly formed intellectual <i>esprit de corps</i>, The Native Club. As expected there has been an overwhelming response to the formation of this provocative new cerebral delegation. In announcing The Native Club, our honourable President, Thabo Mbeki, said it should be an association of the very cream of African intellectuals.
The negotiator gave up just before noon, and returned to the shade of the command centre behind the potted strelitzia in the main terminal. It was simply no good. “He won’t respect the talking stick,” he said, his face in his hands. “I’ve told him it’s a sharing experience, and that his comments are only embraced by his holding the talking stick as a physical representation of his identity.
The cellphone and financial service sectors are in for a shake-up following the entry of Virgin into both markets. Virgin launched its mobile offering on Thursday and next week will see the unveiling of its credit cards. Virgin Mobile CEO Sajeed Sacranie says help is on the way for consumers who are fed up with South Africa’s existing mobile operators.