A Pakistan-born Australian architect was jailed for 20 years on Wednesday for planning bomb attacks in Sydney, a court official said. Pakistan-born Faheem Khalid Lodhi had planned to detonate home-made bombs in Australia’s largest city as part of a ”holy war”, the New South Wales Supreme Court was told during his trial.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presidential election rivals Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba to meet and work together to end fighting between their supporters, the UN said on Tuesday.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry said on Tuesday that the rigours of playing last weekend against Australia and then travelling immediately to South Africa had led him to make 11 changes to the All Blacks team for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Springboks.
Paramount Pictures and actor Tom Cruise called an end to their 14-year production deal on Wednesday as the chairperson of the studio’s parent company took a parting shot at the movie star’s off-screen behaviour. ”As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal,” said Viacom chairperson Sumner Redstone.
England would topple Australia as the world’s top Test team if they successfully defend the Ashes by the unlikely margin of three victories. England, who won the Ashes in 2005 for the first time in 18 years, moved to within 11 rating points of Australia after clinching second spot in the International Cricket Council rankings after the 3-0 series triumph against Pakistan.
The Lebanese port of Byblos has survived the Romans, the Crusades and the armies of Alexander the Great but now it faces a 21st-century menace, brought to its shores on a tide of war — oil pollution. A slick caused by Israel’s bombardment of a power plant last month during its conflict with Hezbolla guerrillas has spewed a black tide along a 140km stretch of the coastline.
South African listed retailer Woolworths Holdings on Wednesday reported headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 105 cents for the year ended June, up 17,4% from 89,4 cents a year ago. On a diluted basis, HEPS were up 18% to 103 cents from 87,3 cents before.
A senior United Nations envoy warned on Tuesday that it could take up to three months to deploy an international force in southern Lebanon and that the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remained ”extremely fragile”. Italy said on Tuesday that it would send up to 3Â 000 troops but warned its soldiers would not be deployed unless Israel kept to the ceasefire commitment.
After months of defiant rhetoric over its nuclear programme, Iran formally rejected an international demand that it suspend uranium enrichment on Tuesday to allay Western fears that it wants to build an atomic bomb. The rejection of an incentive package has set Iran on a collision course with the United Nations Security Council.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday said he had been ”tried and convicted” together with convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik even though he had never appeared in the dock. Zuma on Tuesday filed papers in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in response to the state’s replying affidavits that seek a postponement of his corruption trial.