THE GUARDIAN, Monday, March 11, 2013
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WorldReport Nelson Mandela leaves hospital after tests OUTH Africa’s presidential Syesterday spokesman, Mac Maharaj, disclosed that global peace icon and statesman, Nelson Mandela, has returned home after spending a night in hospital for a “scheduled medical checkup.” Maharaj, in an e-mailed statement, said: “Former President Nelson Mandela has this afternoon... returned to his Johannesburg home following a successful medical examination at a Pretoria hospital. “The doctors have completed the tests. He is well and as before, his health remains under the management of the medical team.”
The former president had been admitted Saturday for “a scheduled medical check-up to manage the existing conditions in line with his age”, less than three months after being treated for a lung infection and gallstones. A report by Agence France Presse (AFP) indicated that the latest hospitalisation had sparked concern that the 94year-old had fallen ill again just as the authorities did not divulge at which Pretoria hospital he was staying. Mandela underwent treatment for a recurrent lung infection and surgery to extract gallstones over Christmas, during his longest
stint in hospital since his release from prison in 1990. He was discharged the day after Christmas after an 18-day hospitalisation and was last known to be convalescing at his home in Johannesburg. Maharaj, while speaking initially on Mandela’s admission, said: “There isn’t an update. I just have to allow the doctors to advise me.” But one of Mandela’s grand nephews insisted that the former statesman was simply undergoing tests. “It’s a normal check up at the hospital as an old person,” he told AFP. The presidency said Mandela, 94, was hospitalised
Civic group members and police clash at a demonstration after an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo … yesterday.
Cardinals celebrate Masses ahead historic Conclave HEAD of historic Conclave A tomorrow for election a new leader for the world’s 1.2
Mandela on Saturday for checkups “to manage the existing conditions in line with his age”.
PHOTO: AFP
billion Catholics, Cardinals yesterday celebrated masses across Rome with parishioners picking their papal favourites. Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world will assemble in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel from tomorrow to elect a new pope in an unprecedented transition after Benedict XVI’s historic resignation. The centuries-old ritual filled with rich imagery and tradition begins when all the cardinals swear a solemn oath of secrecy at 1545 GMT and hold a first vote to find a new leader for the 1.2 billion Catholics around the globe. Beyond the Renaissance symbolism and rules that cut off the cardinals from any contact with the outside world during the conclave, the challenge will be to find a 266th pope able to deal with the many challenges assailing the church. The abrupt end to Benedict’s often troubled pontificate has brought into sharp relief the need for a new kind of leader able to face growing secularism in the West and rising Islamic radicalism in many parts of the world. But yesterday, United States (U.S.) Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who is seen as a possible contender for the papacy, said in his homily: “This Tuesday is also very special to us because we are preparing for the conclave, the Catholic world is
Two years after Fukushima’s disaster, Strained U.S.- Afghan ties overshadow Hagel’s visit to Kabul anti-nuclear protest staged in Japan HE first trip by United troops by the end of 2014. was in daily talks with the T States (U.S.) Defence But the event was scrapped Taliban and that insurgent HOUSANDS of protesters Tokyo Electric Power’s Secretary, Chuck Hagel, to just a few hours before it was suicide attacks enabled the T marched in the Japanese (Tepco) Fukushima Daiichi Afghanistan was overshad- due to be held at the presi- international military force to capital yesterday, calling on owed yesterday by a condential palace in Kabul, with justify its presence in the government to shun nuclear power, a day before the second anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that triggered the world’s worst atomic disaster in 25 years. Japan is still coming to terms with the disaster that ravaged its northeastern region two years ago – the earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 people. Several thousand people are still unaccounted for, Reuters claimed yesterday. “It’s becoming more and more important for us to protest. I do this for my children, we can’t leave the mess of nuclear power behind to them,” said a 32-year old mother of two marching in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, chanting “Stop nuclear! Protect our children!”. “People and the media are starting to forget Fukushima and what happened there,” said the woman. The nuclear meltdown at
plant forced 160,000 people from their homes and many of them will never return. It also sparked an unprecedented protest movement against nuclear power. Tepco faces a decades-long effort to decontaminate and decommission the wrecked nuclear plant after the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. All of Japan’s 50 reactors were gradually shut down after the Fukushima disaster and all but two of them remain idle. But the sweeping December victory of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which long supported nuclear power and fostered ties between politicians, bureaucrats and utilities, is a worry for nuclear power’s opponents. A recent survey showed about 70 percent of Japanese want to phase out nuclear power eventually. An equal number backs Abe, who wants to restart off-line reactors if they meet new safety standards.
tentious speech by President Hamid Karzai and a security scare that forced their joint media briefing to be cancelled. Karzai and Hagel’s appearance in front of the cameras was to be a key part of the Pentagon chief’s visit to Afghanistan as strained U.S.Afghan ties focus on the withdrawal of NATO-led foreign
U.S. officials citing unspecified security concerns. Hagel’s trip was also marked by two deadly suicide bombs on Saturday – one within his earshot in Kabul –and further delays to the planned transfer of the controversial Bagram jail from U.S. to Afghan control. In a provocative speech yesterday, Karzai said the U.S.
Afghanistan. “The bombs that were detonated in Kabul and Khost were not a show of force, they were serving America,” he said in the televised speech, referring to the two suicide blasts in which 19 people were killed. “It is their slogan for 2014, scaring us that if the U.S. is not here, our people will be eliminated,” he said, without giving
Let us pray that the Holy Spirit enable the Church to choose a new pope who will confirm us in our faith and make more visible the love of the Good Shepherd. united in prayer.” “Let us pray that the Holy Spirit enable the Church to choose a new pope who will confirm us in our faith and make more visible the love of the Good Shepherd,” O’Malley told parishioners in Santa Maria della Vittoria church. O’Malley based his homily on the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son, who runs away from home but is welcomed back with open arms by his father. “People leave the Father, the Church, for many reasons — ignorance, a poor welcome, negative experiences, scandals, spiritual mediocrity,” he said, in apparent reference to a key challenge for the Church — rising secularism. Father Stefano Guernelli, rector of the ornate Baroque church in central Rome told O’Malley: “I hope this is the last time you come here as a cardinal and I hope that if you are elected pontiff this will be the first church that you visit.” At the nearby basilica of Santa Pudenziana, Rome’s Philippine community gathered in their hundreds as they do every yesterday and sang the praises of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, seen as another “papabile”, or papal candidate. “We are all maids here,” said Meliros Gangani, 53, who came to Italy 26 years ago and works as a volunteer at the church on her day off from work. “We really hope Tagle wins. If he does we would all feel a lot more confident with our bosses. He would really help unite the community,” she said. Evelyn, who also works as a maid and came to Italy 18 years ago, said: “It would make me really happy. It would make me more proud of being Philippine.”
Kenyans seek reconciliation after contested polls HE need for reconciliation T after a disputed presidential election reverberated in Kenya yesterday as calm prevailed in the country the day after results were declared. This is in striking contrast to the aftermath of the 2007 polls that led to the death of many people and displaced of others, according to agency reports. Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces an international trial for crimes against humanity, was Saturday declared winner. But his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has
vowed to challenge the result in court. “The country is split right down the middle on tribal and economic lines,” Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted the Standard newspaper as saying in an editorial, calling on the president-elect, who is from one of the continent’s richest families, to mend the divisions. Kenyatta faces trial at the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) over his alleged role in the violence after the bitterly contested election in 2007 that sparked
one of the worst bouts of ethnic bloodletting in Kenya. Odinga said he would mount a legal challenge, alleging “massive tampering” during Monday’s vote, but appealed for calm. Kenyatta was declared winner by the slimmest of margins – 50.07 per cent against Odinga’s 43.31 per cent. “Any violence now could destroy the country forever, and that would not serve anyone’s interests,” Odinga said. Odinga – in his third failed attempt at the top job – said he
would respect the decision of the Supreme Court even if it ruled against him. Top officials said all measures were in force to prevent a repeat of 2007. “The country has been mostly peaceful throughout this period, we had no major incidents even after the election,” Kenya’s police chief, David Kimaiyo, said. “Even in areas where a few elements wanted to cause problems, the response was very swift and we managed to restore order,” Kimaiyo told AFP.