Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday released three customs officials held over a toxic-waste scandal, ending a customs strike that briefly halted registration of cocoa exports days ahead of a new crop, officials said. ”The strike has been lifted. We have gone back to work. We have been informed that they have been released,” a customs official told Reuters.
JK Rowling’s fifth instalment of Harry Potter delivers more of the old charm, writes Nicholas Lezard.
Customs officials in Côte d’Ivoire began a strike on Tuesday to demand the release of three colleagues imprisoned over a toxic-waste scandal, preventing registration of cocoa shipments for export, an official said. ”Ships which already have their [customs] documents signed can leave [the port] but ships which will try to obtain them today [Tuesday] will be blocked,” one customs officer said.
Nations build their influence on the world as much through culture as they do through guns. This is referred to as ”soft power”. South Africa’s image has benefited from the presence of its artists abroad, writes Greg Barns.
The 2005 Gandhi Peace Award has been made to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced in Johannesburg on Monday. It was in recognition of his contribution to society and political transformation, said the prime minister. Tutu had shown ”truly Gandhian values”, he told dignitaries at Constitutional Hill.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial minister of transport Bheki Cele on Tuesday applauded the police for the swift arrests of 24 alleged cash-in-transit heist gang members. ”The police had done a tremendous job and I certainly believe that, as the province, we will work tirelessly in decreasing the rate of crime, particularly the accelerating rate of cash-in-transit heists,” said Cele in a statement.
The United States has offered to return nearly all British residents held at Guantánamo Bay after months of secret talks in Washington, the Guardian has learned. The British government has refused to accept the men, however, with senior officials saying they have no legal right to return.
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The African National Congress (ANC) has expressed deep sadness over the death of MP James Kati, a spokesperson said on Monday. James Zamiwonga Kati, who became an MP in 1999, died on Friday after a long illness. ”The ANC dips its revolutionary banner in remembrance of his undying spirit,” said ANC Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.
Several people were shot and killed by a hostage taker who opened fire at an Amish school in Pennsylvania on Monday, police said, in the third fatal shooting at a United States school in a week. ”There are a number dead. The exact number I am not sure at this point. There are also a number of wounded. And the shooter is not at large,” said Ralph Striebig of the state police.