No image available
/ 11 January 2008

Man in court for French chef’s murder

A 21-year-old man charged with murdering a well-known French chef appeared briefly in the Ramsgate Magistrate’s Court on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast on Friday. Theleka Quntu is alleged to have murdered 69-year-old restaurateur Yvonne Cosson earlier this week after he was dismissed by her over a dispute about wages.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

Kenya opposition to resume mass action

Kenya’s opposition said on Friday it planned to restart protests across the East African nation against President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election after the failure of African Union mediation. Kibaki’s government has made clear it will not tolerate opposition marches. Previous protests have led to bloody clashes between opposition supporters and security forces.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

The ANC is not divided, says Zuma

In his first weekly online newsletter to African National Congress (ANC) members, Jacob Zuma, the new party leader, insisted on Friday that there were no fundamental policy differences among any members or leaders of the ANC. ”The vibrant debate that is sometimes misconstrued as division is merely differences of opinion,” he wrote.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

Zille: ANC divisions driven by greed

The deepest divisions in the African National Congress were driven not by ideology, but by greed and lust for power, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday. Writing in her first online newsletter of the year, she said that given the richness of the spoils on offer, it was not surprising that bitter rivalries had developed between factions.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

Group claims responsibility for Nigeria tanker blaze

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) on Friday claimed responsibility for the blaze that started earlier in the day on a tanker berthed in Port Harcourt, the country’s main oil hub. "Mend confirms that its Freelance Freedom Fighters working inside the oil industry detonated a remote explosive device," the group said in a statement.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

MK veterans slam ‘demonisation’ of Yengeni

The Umkhonto weSizwe Veterans’ Association (MKVA) has condemned what it says is the ”demonisation” of former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni by ”certain elements in the media and elsewhere”. ”Comrade Tony Yengeni never stole any money nor killed anybody,” the MKVA said in a statement on Friday.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

Kurds say Turkish army shells Iraq border area

The Turkish army on Friday pounded areas across the border in northern Iraq with artillery fire, continuing its assaults on suspected rebel positions, a Kurdish border guard official said. Major General Jabar Yawar, spokesperson for the Peshmerga border guard in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdistan area, said that there were no immediate reports of casualties.

No image available
/ 11 January 2008

Israel salutes Bush, cautious of ‘treaty’ hopes

The Israeli government said on Friday it endorsed United States President George Bush’s call during his visit for a rapid peace agreement but made clear it does not see the final establishment of a Palestinian state this year. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesperson said that Israel hoped for a ”historic agreement” in 2008.