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Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils publicly discussed his role in the Jacob Zuma rape allegation for the first time on Thursday, after the African National Congress Youth League’s announcement that it would ”probe” his involvement in the affair.
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An HIV-positive woman who sparked a storm when she laid a charge of rape against former deputy president Jacob Zuma has left South Africa after his acquittal, a daily said on Thursday. The 31-year-old Aids activist boarded an overseas flight late on Wednesday, reported the The Star newspaper.
Islamic militia and gunmen loyal to a United States-backed warlord alliance fought pitched battles in the streets of the lawless Somali capital on Thursday as the death toll from five days of clashes soared. Machine gun, rocket and mortar fire rained down on bullet-scarred neighbourhoods in northern and central Somalia, indiscriminately killing and wounding civilians.
Families of the victims of last year’s London bombings criticised the government on Thursday for failing to see the attack coming, as two reports into the bloody events of July 7 were made public. Many relatives of the 52 people killed by four suicide bombers were scathing about the reports and demanded a full public inquiry.
More than 2 300 suspects were arrested for murder and 1 619 for attempted murder between January and March this year, the government’s justice, crime prevention and security cluster of ministries reported on Thursday. A further 3 967 arrests were made for rape, 423 for indecent assault, 11 445 for common assault, 3 614 for aggravated robbery and 4 010 for common robbery.
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Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her director general Thami Mseleku have accused the media of sowing confusion in the wake of former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s statement about showering after sleeping with an HIV-positive woman.
As Zimbabwe’s public health services crumble, the only two state-owned radiotherapy machines are out of action and await repairs, leaving cancer patients without vital treatment, state media reported on Thursday. Impoverished patients were unable to afford alternative treatment or travel to neighbouring countries, said The Herald newspaper.
Polish and German security officials teamed up on Thursday for an exercise in subduing aggressive, unruly Polish football fans, many of whom are expected to try to cross into Germany for this summer’s World Cup. ”The conditions of this exercise were very close to what we would expect in real life,” said Jacek Ogrodowicz, a spokesperson for the Polish border guard.
President Jacques Chirac was further drawn into a dirty tricks scandal rocking the French government on Thursday, with the publication of leaked evidence showing he knew of a secret enquiry into his political rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Le Monde newspaper printed excerpts of hand-written notes kept by spy-master Philippe Rondot.
”This is Omar Maarouf calling from Kenitra Central Prison,” said the dejected voice on the other end of the line. The bizarre phone call was the second in two days from a prisoner inside the high-walled Kenitra, one of Morocco’s most notorious lockups.