Hamas paid Gaza security officials on Friday by dishing out cash from suitcases rather than using banks, as Israel tightened a clampdown on the Palestinian territory. An official said the group planned to circumvent banks by paying salaries to about 20 000 security forces and civil servants in cash.
South Korean media questioned on Friday whether the two Koreas’ summit pledge to seek a formal end to their 1950 to 1953 war could be realised given Pyongyang’s record of broken promises. The ambition was spelled out by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in a joint statement signed in Pyongyang on Thursday.
West Africa will miss a December 31 deadline to sign a new trade partnership with the European Union and hopes to keep its preferential commercial privileges for up to two years while it negotiates. Ministers from the Economic Community of West African States were meeting on Friday in Côte d’Ivoire to agree a common approach ahead of talks later this month with the EU.
The recording industry has won a major fight in its effort to stop illegal music downloading with a United States jury decision to impose 000 damages against a Minnesota woman who used a web service to share music. The size of the damages is nearly 80 times higher than the average European settlement figure.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court kept the fate of President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid in its hands by deciding a vote could go ahead on Saturday, but a winner cannot be declared until it rules if he was eligible to stand. United States ally General Musharraf is sure to win the vote in Parliament and the country’s four provincial assemblies.
European Union and Chinese trade officials have agreed on a new way to handle Chinese textile exports to the bloc when quotas expire on December 31. Officials said the plan might help improve cooperation between the EU and China over the Asian economic powerhouse’s snowballing trade surplus with the 27-nation bloc.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha has stepped down, it emerged on Friday. A special task team will now be established to make recommendations to Cosatu’s Central Executive Committee after Madisha voluntarily stepped down.
Women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant or breast-feeding should eat at least 12 ounces of fatty fish such as tuna every week to help themselves and their babies. Fish including mackerel, sardines, light tuna and salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids — components of fat known to help brain development.
Statements attributed to the chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in Limpopo, Sello Moloto, were on Friday described as reckless, immature and childish by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). The ANCYL said Moloto was incorrigible and had become an embarrassment and a political liability.
MOVIES OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews two thrillers opening on circuit this week, <i>The Dead Girl</i> and <i>The Lookout</i>.