The Palestinian government’s security chief, a key player in rocket attacks on Israel, was killed late on Thursday in an Israeli air strike that threatened to escalate clashes between the two sides into a far fiercer conflict. The militantly anti-Israel Hamas government called Jamal Abu Samhadana’s assassination a direct assault on the Palestinian Authority.
Impoverished villagers living next to the Kruger National Park in rural Mozambique have pledged 53 000ha of their land for conservation, providing a shot in the arm for South Africa’s ambitious cross-border "peace park" initiative. The bequest will become part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
Former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) director general Billy Masetlha has told the African National Congress probe into the ”hoax e-mails” that he possesses a separate set of e-mails intercepted by his agency — and that they are different from the messages judged to be fraudulent by Intelligence Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani.
”Do I look like a man who can climb up a lamppost?” demanded Sheval Arendse, the Democratic Alliance’s candidate in the Tafelsig by-election. As Arendse weighs 150kg, the question, put to a police inspector investigating a complaint of theft by the Independent Democrats, was clearly rhetorical.
KwaZulu-Natal social welfare and population development minister Nyanga Ngubane’s bid to avoid personally paying the legal costs of thousands of social grant applicants struggling for pensions and grants was thwarted by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein recently.
A free junket to London, courtesy of Telkom, for senior officials of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has drawn criticism. Against the backdrop of attempts to break Telkom’s fixed-line monopoly, the freebie to attend a conference in April hosted by the International Institute of Communications, has attracted censure for the apparent conflict of interest.
The third round of talks to break the 12-week security strike logjam are under way after third parties, including Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, managed to coax negotiators back to the table.At the same time, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union gave some indication of the costs of strike action for labour.
Former president FW De Klerk was in stable condition after undergoing an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his colon, his spokesperson Dave Steward said on Thursday. ”He is still in intensive care, but his condition is stable,” Steward said.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has relaunched his diplomatic offensive to engage President Robert Mugabe in a bid to resolve Zimbabwe’s escalating political and economic crisis, it emerged on Thursday. Official sources said Mbeki on Thursday dispatched Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils to Zimbabwe.
A clear majority of Russians think Vladimir Putin should serve a third presidential term, and that the Constitution should be changed to allow him to do so, according to an opinion poll. The poll comes amid persistent speculation that Putin could be coaxed into considering another term.