Iran warned on Tuesday it will sever relations with the United Nations atomic watchdog if sanctions are imposed over its nuclear drive and vowed a military attack would merely send its activities underground. Despite the tough rhetoric, diplomats in Vienna said a high-level Iranian delegation was to hold last-minute talks on Wednesday with the UN atomic agency.
The government must act to protect former Zimbabwean opposition MP Roy Bennett and grant him political asylum in South Africa without delay, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. ”The DA believes that Bennett’s application for asylum provides the South African government with the ideal opportunity to signal to Harare that it believes there is a crisis in Zimbabwe,” DA Chief Whip Douglas Gibson said in a statement.
Vodacom is reducing its 3G data tariffs by 20% from June 1, subject to the approval of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Pieter Uys, Vodacom’s CEO said: "This reduction in tariffs means that Vodacom customers could pay as little as 39c per megabyte — making our superfast mobile internet even more affordable and accessible to everyone."
Waving flags replaced clouds of tear gas as tens of thousands of people in Kathmandu celebrated ”Victory Day” over their king on streets where protesters had fought pitched battles with police. Festivities that started late on Monday after King Gyanendra ended 14 months of absolute rule and restored Parliament, swelled to street parties by mid-morning.
Zanzibar marked Africa Malaria Day on Tuesday with an appeal for more aid money to control and possibly eliminate the tropical disease, which kills more than one-million people a year — many of them young children in Africa. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes and causes wracking pain, fever and, if left untreated, death. It is the leading cause of death of those under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Egyptian forces on Tuesday arrested 10 suspects over the triple bombings that ripped through the Red Sea tourist resort of Dahab and killed 18 people, including foreigners. State media said preliminary investigations pointed to links between the attacks in Dahab and two previous strikes in the Sinai peninsula over the past 18 months.
Billions of dollars in aid will achieve ”zero” in Africa unless governments on the continent are serious about fighting corruption and poverty, Irish rocker and humanitarian Bob Geldof said on Tuesday. The 54-year-old political activist, who will be performing in Johannesburg and Cape Town this week, said he saw ”many, many optimistic signs and just as many crap signs” that African governments were cleaning up their act.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has rejected a claim by the Department of Health that it is reconsidering a government’s invitation to attend the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/Aids. After initially being barred from going to the special session, the TAC last week turned down the department’s offer to be one of 14 civil society organisations to join the South African delegation.
The union representing striking security guards and their employers need to resolve their wage dispute without the Minister of Labour’s intervention, he said on Tuesday. Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said that both parties — and not himself — held the key to an amicable solution, he said in a statement sent from Cairo, where he was attending a labour summit.
No charges of corruption or tender rigging were pending against any National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) employees, NPA head Vusi Pikoli said on Tuesday. He rejected a Sunday Times report that NPA chief executive officer Marion Sparg and her ”entire executive management team” faced such charges.