Hamas leaders on Wednesday said they hope to open a dialogue with the European Union, aiming to prevent the bloc from cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in vital aid. The EU has threatened to scale back aid to the Palestinians once Hamas, which won the Palestinian legislative elections in January, officially takes office.
President Thabo Mbeki has terminated the services of suspended National Intelligence Agency (NIA) head Billy Masetlha with immediate effect. Briefing the media at Parliament, government communications chief Joel Netshitenzhe said this followed Mbeki’s determination that the relationship of trust between himself and Masetlha had irreparably broken down.
Mohamed Sissoko has completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in football after helping Liverpool into the last four of the FA Cup only a month after being temporarily blinded in his right eye. Sissoko played the full 90 minutes of Liverpool’s 7-0 thrashing of Birmingham on Tuesday evening.
A British terrorist cell with alleged links to al-Qaeda discussed killing and maiming revellers at a large central London nightclub, as well as targeting power facilities, a court was told on Wednesday. One of the seven men also discussed trying to buy a radio-isotope or so-called ”dirty bomb” from the Russian mafia, but nothing appeared to have come from his enquiries.
Mining magnate Roger Kebble denied any mystery around his brief appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. He is charged with five counts of fraud. ”It was a simple thing. I went there for a postponement,” said the father of slain businessman Brett Kebble, who managed to evade the media during his appearance.
A fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in western Japan on Wednesday, but there was no radiation leakage, authorities said. Two workers were injured. It took firefighters in protective suits nearly two hours to reach the flames because of thick smoke, and another two hours to put out the blaze.
South Africa appears to be winning the battle to restore its spoiled wetlands, with more hectares being rehabilitated each year than are lost to urban development and poor land management, says the wildlife organisation WWF. The Working for Wetlands programme is rehabilitating about 7 000ha of wetlands each year.
The Democratic Alliance has urged Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to appoint a special task team to review South Africa’s tax structure. Speaking in debate in the National Assembly on the budget, DA finance spokesperson Ian Davidson said there could be no complaint that the budget’s main impact would be on enhancing the spending power of lower-income groups.
An estimated 90 000 security guards from 13 unions will strike for two days from Thursday, South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) security industry coordinator Jackson Simon said on Thursday. The figure is down from the 150 000 mooted on Wednesday.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s rape trial will resume in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday after a one-week adjournment. Reports suggest he may apply for the case to be dismissed for lack of evidence, but his attorney Michael Hulley was not immediately available to confirm this.