Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was set on Thursday for a groundbreaking summit at the White House, seeking strong United States commitments to a viable Palestinian state and a halt to Israeli settlement expansion. Abbas is looking for renewed support for an independent and contiguous Palestinian state.
South African Rugby Union president Brian van Rooyen and his vice-president, Andre Markgraaff, kissed and made up on Thursday following months of recrimination and emotional outbursts from both parties. The men addressed a press conference after a day of crisis talks.
The name change of Pretoria to Tshwane took another step forward on Thursday when the South African National Geographical Names Council unanimously approved the recommendation. Tommy Ntsewa, chairperson of the council, said in Bloemfontein the approval was granted after thorough deliberation.
Justine Henin-Hardenne’s latest ailment failed to slow her down on Thursday at the French Open. The tournament favourite and 2003 champion advanced to the third round by beating Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-4. Maria Sharapova, seeded second, committed just 13 unforced errors and beat 18-year-old Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-2.
Very cold and wet conditions are due to hit parts of the country this weekend, but for many people a weekend of hot chocolate and romantic snuggling is a remote thought — finding ways of keeping warm safely is far more pressing. But makeshift measures such as illegal electricity connections can be deadly.
An historic property in Westcliff, Johannesburg, has been auctioned for a record price of R12,3-million, double initial estimates. The sale, to an overseas investor, followed the resolution of an international legal battle surrounding the property, which cleared the way for the mansion and its surrounding properties to be sold.
The Zimbabwean government is trying to quash the local trade union movement and send its own representatives to an International Labour Organisation conference, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said on Thursday. ”This is a sinister move,” ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will start strike action on June 27 in a programme of action that will run into February next year, against continuing job losses. At a press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday, Cosatu called on the business sector to make more serious efforts to avoid job losses.
The Cabinet has agreed to extend by two years, until March 2007, South Africa’s participation in a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Cabinet also approved the extension of participation in the UN and African Union missions in Ethiopia and Eritrea for another two years.
Too much is being made of claims that there is resistance to transforming the judiciary, Justice Dikgang Moseneke told members of the Judicial Services Commission in Cape Town on Thursday. ”I don’t think so,” said Moseneke of the resistance claims, adding that most judges embraced the Constitution, its values and the ”constitutional injunctions”.