South Africa would put processes in motion to open a mission in Iraq, deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. The matter was raised in talks with his Iraqi counterpart Talib Hamid Al-Bayati in Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon. ”We will be looking at sending an advance team to Iraq sooner rather than later,” said Pahad.
United States Open champion Kim Clijsters said her decision to retire in two years time was because tennis has stopped her from having the normal body of a 22-year-old. Clijsters could win back the world number one spot if she takes away Lindsay Davenport’s title at the 000 Grand Prix this week, but that clearly concerns her much less than the state of her health.
Algeria has approved a referendum that will allow a sweeping amnesty law to bring an end to years of guerrilla conflict and — hopefully — establish peace in the country. Under the new law, Islamist parties are banned from taking part in politics, but this vision of a secular Algeria has already been thrown into doubt.
British researchers said on Tuesday they hope to produce the first-ever authoritative map of the country’s last uncharted territory: what lies beneath people’s feet. With the help of utility companies, engineers from the University of Birmingham in central Britain hope to come up with a comprehensive chart of the more than four million kilometres of underground cables and pipes.
The Pentagon has notified the United States Congress of possible military sales to Saudi Arabia valued at more than -billion, if all options are exercised. The proposed sales include a laundry list of armored personnel carriers, command vehicles, water cannons, a variety of trucks, ambulances, ammunition and assault rifles for the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
The European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, on Tuesday warned that Turkey’s European Union membership was ”neither guaranteed nor automatic”. As formal accession talks — which could last for up to 15 years — finally got under way in Brussels, Barroso said Turkey, which has a mainly Muslim population of more than 70-million, had to win over sceptical Europeans before its entry into the union could be agreed.
DaimlerChrysler, Hyundai and Mitsubishi have begun production at a new plant that will supply more fuel efficient engines for nearly two dozen models worldwide. The plant is part of the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, a joint venture between the three companies.
Water restrictions have been imposed on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, where there has been little rain and river water levels are low. The north coast — particularly the Tongaat area — was being closely monitored, eThekwini municipality water and sanitation head Neil Macleod said on Tuesday, appealing to residents to use water sparingly.
Some of the media were ignoring Brett Kebble’s fundamental right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, said Essop Pahad, Minister in the Presidency, at the mining magnate’s funeral in Cape Town on Tuesday. Pahad said Kebble’s murder has thrown into sharp relief the relationship between rights and responsibilities under the South African Constitution.
Missing police constable Frances Rasuge laid and withdrew rape charges against murder accused William Nkuna three months before she disappeared, the Mmbatho Circuit Court heard on Tuesday. She subsequently filed a withdrawal statement on May 24 and the charges were withdrawn three days later.