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/ 9 November 2006
The executive has full confidence in police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, despite recent media allegations again linking him to alleged criminals, Government Communications and Information System head Themba Maseko said on Thursday. Selebi has said he believes a smear campaign is being waged against him.
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/ 9 November 2006
Hundreds of breasts were freed from their confines on Thursday, Guinness World Records Day, as local celebrities asked women strip off their bras and donate them to form the longest bra chain in the world. South Africa is trying to break a world record for the longest bra chain to raise awareness of breast cancer.
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/ 9 November 2006
A Zimbabwe court has fined two Botswana reporters for breaching a law barring journalists from working in the country without government approval. Critics say President Robert Mugabe’s government is using tough media laws to terrorise the media and curb criticism in the face of a severe economic crisis.
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/ 9 November 2006
Nigerian Nobel Literature laureate Wole Soyinka has called on the world to shut its doors on the government of Sudan for ”genocide” in Darfur. ”Two million people are squatting in their own country, facing genocide by their own government,” he said during a visit to Nairobi.
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/ 9 November 2006
France test-launched a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles for the first time on Thursday. The M51 missile has a range of 6 000km, 50% further than that of the missile currently in service. Developed by EADS, the M51 will also be able to carry a heavier load than the M45 it will replace, and be armed with up to six warheads.
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/ 9 November 2006
Turkey was given a month on Wednesday to come into line with the European Union or risk a crisis in its EU accession talks. In a sign of its growing impatience, the European commission indicated that some areas of the negotiations may be suspended unless Ankara gives ground on the key issue of Cyprus before next month’s summit of European leaders.
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/ 9 November 2006
Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees fled their camp in rebel territory in the island’s east on Thursday, survivors said, a day after the army bombed the location killing dozens of civilians. Rights groups and diplomats voiced outrage at Wednesday’s attack, which the military said was in retaliation for rebel fire.
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/ 9 November 2006
About half of the people in developing countries in Asia who kill themselves do it using pesticides, prompting the World Health Organisation to urge governments to ban or regulate their use. The WHO cited studies showing nearly everyone who committed suicide acted on impulse and their deaths could have been prevented if lethal chemicals had not been available.
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/ 9 November 2006
Israeli newspapers were filled with a mixture of remorse and recrimination on Thursday, a day after the army shelled a town in the Gaza Strip, killing 18 civilians, including women and children. While some commentators said the attack called for national soul-searching, others said it was just the ”price tag” Palestinians should pay for having launched attacks on Israel.
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/ 9 November 2006
Drunk drivers’ cars can be forfeited to the state, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in a test case on Thursday. The court held that a motor vehicle driven under the influence of liquor — or while the level of alcohol in the driver’s blood exceeds the prescribed limit — is liable to be forfeited to the state, but not in every case.