Kidnappers of Egypt’s top diplomat in Iraq have threatened to kill him because Egypt has allied with ”Jews and Christians,” according to a statement posted on Wednesday on an al-Qaeda-linked website. Meanwhile, a senior aide to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr visited Bahrain’s diplomatic mission on Wednesday.
South Africa has to move on from its apartheid history and forge ahead with democracy despite the pain it often causes, Johannesburg High Court Judge Mohamed Jajbhay said on Wednesday. He was addressing human rights activists opposing the Absa takeover bid by Barclays Bank.
A former senior intelligence officer has quit Zimbabwe’s ruling party over the demolitions campaign that has left hundreds of thousands homeless, saying the governing clique is ”punishing the people” for no reason. Meanwhile, police have denied reports of four deaths during the demolition of a township.
Shareholders have given the thumbs-up for a R7,2-billion black economic empowerment deal (BEE) that will see 12,75% of Old Mutual plc’s South African operations going to black investors and staff. "We are pleased that shareholders have shown their strong support for our BEE ownership proposals," said chief executive Jim Sutcliffe.
A <i>Citizen</i> lead story entitled "Documentary claims Zuma was plot victim" has elicited a range of animated responses from the media industry. The piece refers to "an explosive TV documentary alleging former deputy president Jacob Zuma is the victim of a trial by media orchestrated by people within the African National Congress".
The expected decision by Group of Eight (G8) leaders to erase some of the debt Africans owe world lenders will free money to build schools and hospitals — but its impact may not be as dramatic as it first appears. Few African countries — even those paying interest — are expected to make good on the principal.
The government should declare a ”state of emergency” in the Stilfontein area as thousands of miners and their families are going hungry, the trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, thousands of unhappy miners from two liquidated mines in Stilfontein in the North West and their families blocked the N12 near the town.
The Malagasy tourism industry is patiently awaiting an expected boom in visitors to the Indian Ocean island nation driven by the animated box-office hit Madagascar. Though tourist arrivals have yet to register any significant jump from the film that was released in May, officials said prospects are bright.
The head of the commission into Western Cape taxi violence clashed on Wednesday with a senior legal adviser to the City of Cape Town on the issue of witness safety. The confrontation took place in the wake of the slaying at the weekend of a prominent figure in the taxi industry, who only days earlier had testified to the commission.
Thousands of workers in the metal and engineering industries will start protests on Thursday, building up to a full-scale strike on July 12, trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday. The protests are over a wage dispute with employees, who are offering 1% less than the amount demanded by the union.