Around 30 Israeli army jeeps rolled into the West Bank town of El-Bireh on Wednesday and surrounded at least four buildings, an Agence France-Presse correspondent reported. The troops drove into El-Bireh and took up position around a three-storey apartment building amid the sound of gunfire.
The governing Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has taken a key step towards recognising Israel after reaching a deal on a crisis-solving plan that implicitly recognises its arch foe’s right to exist. The deal followed weeks of talks on a blueprint calling for an end to attacks in Israel and a national-unity government.
Employees of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the office of the compensation commissioner could go on strike in July, the public service union (PSA) said on Wednesday. PSA and several other unions’ members were planning ”full-blown strike action” over what they called the Department of Labour’s ”unilateral phase-out of a production bonus scheme”.
Many African National Congress MPs are not performing properly and should be fired, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. ”It is a fact that the average ANC MP is not up to the job. At least 100 of them should be fired and replaced by people who are competent,” DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Police have clammed up about the Jeppestown attack in which 12 people — including four police officials — died on Sunday. No further details about the case will be communicated until further notice, said Gauteng police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s secret services to locate and kill the murderers of four Russian embassy staff who were kidnapped in Iraq, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. ”The president gave the instruction to the Russian secret services to take all necessary steps … ,” a Kremlin official said, reading from a prepared statement.
SA Rugby has announced four new caps for the forthcoming Springbok’s Vodacom Tri-Nations tour to Australia and New Zealand. They are Akona Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Pierre Spies and Mahlatse (Chiliboy) Ralepelle. The 28 players will convene in Johannesburg on Monday before leaving for Australia on Thursday July 6.
African National Congress Youth League executive member and former Randgold and Exploration director Songezo Mjongile appeared in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of tax fraud tin the amount of R1,8-million, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Russia’s super-rich oligarchs are currying favour with the Kremlin by pouring cash into the country’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Basic Element, the vast industrial holding company of the metals magnate Oleg Deripaska, announced on Tuesday a -million investment in a sports complex near Sochi.
Not all of the eight robbers shot dead with four policemen in a house in Jeppestown on Sunday have been identified yet, Gauteng police said on Wednesday. Police were also still considering whether to make their names public once their identities had been established, Senior-Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said.