Monday marked the 58th anniversary of the founding of Israel — and the expulsion of Palestinians from their land. With millions still living under occupation or in exile, what Palestinians call their ‘nakba’ — their catastrophe — remains at the heart of their national identity, argues Karma Nabulsi
A by-election in the Harare township of Budiriro will offer the clearest barometer yet of the electoral support that the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) factions command. That is if voters are not confused by the bizarre phenomenon that the MDC logo will appear twice on the ballot paper.
A former boss of one of the travel agencies implicated in the parliamentary travel voucher scam spent an hour-and-a-half behind bars on Monday for his lack of co-operation in a liquidation inquiry. David Phokeng, an ex-director of the now-liquidated Bathong Travel, was detained in the holding cells of the Bellville Magistrate’s Court at the request of the attorney acting for the liquidators, Bernhard Kurz.
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The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) will on Tuesday serve notice for secondary strikes in support of the wage demands of security guards, union leaders said. ”We will be serving notice tomorrow [Tuesday] for secondary strikes from other sectors of Satawu,” the union’s security industry spokesperson, Jackson Simon, said on Monday.
A severe earthquake estimated to measure 6,7 on the Richter scale on Monday struck in the north-eastern Pacific coastal area of Russia, the Hong Kong observatory said. The quake struck at 7.21pm Hong Kong time and its epicentre was located some 870km east of the Siberian city of Magadan, the observatory said.
Coastguards escorted to land hundreds of migrants floating at sea off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Monday, causing an emergency at its overwhelmed transit centre, the Ansa news agency reported. Coastguards intercepted three vessels, carrying some 400 suspected illegal immigrants, to the Italian island south of Sicily early on Monday.
As many as 10 Atlantic hurricanes could form in coming months, and up to four of them could hit the United States, experts said on Monday, urging residents to prepare for potentially devastating storms. ”The outlook calls for a very active 2006 season,” the National Weather Service said in a report released on Monday.
Cape mayor Helen Zille spent part of Monday afternoon briefing Capetonians on how to seek redress from the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union for damage inflicted during a violent march last week. Her spokesperson, Robert Macdonald, said about 150 to 200 people attended the meeting at the Civic Centre.
Dagga worth an estimated R3-million was seized at a house at Cape Town’s Mfuleni area, Western Cape police said on Monday. Detectives visited the house, situated at Ngogoshe Street at Mfuleni Extension 4, at about 8pm on Sunday after a tip-off by a member of the public, Inspector Bernadine Steyn said.