South African President Nelson Mandela paid a bride price of 60 cows before his secret wedding last weekend to his Mozambican sweetheart Graca Machel, the Star newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi of the Tembu clan, of which Mandela is a royal member, as saying the bride price was decided over two months of secret negotiations between the Mandela and Machel families.
Surgeons yesterday began operating on Czech President Vaclav Havel to remove a bag bridging a gap in his intestine, his office said. The bag was inserted in April after Havel had emergency surgery to remove about 30 cm of his large intestine.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Japan's next prime minister Keizo Obuchi yesterday that she didn't care if he was as boring as cold pizza. Referring to a recent description of Obuchi in the US press, an official quoted Albright as saying she in fact liked cold pizza more than hot.