On the opening day of a trial in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, a British man was accused of offering to sell 200 shoulder-fired missiles to a Somali group he thought would use them to shoot down United States commercial airliners. However, the man claims he was the victim of a sting operation.
Mahmoud Abbas, who is expected to win Sunday’s election for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, condemned ”the Zionist enemy” on Tuesday after seven children on their way to pick strawberries were mistaken for Palestinian militants and killed by Israeli tank shells.
Fears are growing for children orphaned in the tsunami disaster after a senior United Nations official warned of credible reports that criminal gangs in Indonesia are offering them for adoption or exploitation. Carol Bellamy, executive director of the UN Children’s Fund, said organised syndicates are exploiting the crisis in Aceh province.
Iraq’s president reignited calls for a delay to the first national elections, due in three weeks, when he said on Tuesday that escalating violence will make it difficult to hold a proper vote. The main Sunni party has withdrawn from the election already, while other senior Iraqi officials, including the defence minister, have publicly suggested a delay.
Ten days after the tsunami devastated large swaths of the south and south-east Asian coastlines, aid agencies battling to bring relief to millions left homeless and starving on Tuesday warned that the full scale of the disaster has yet to be revealed. The known death toll approached 150 000 on Tuesday night.
Musica, the retail chain offering music and other gaming, DVD and lifestyle products that is owned by listed health and beauty retailer New Clicks Holdings, plans to open its first store selling only DVDs (excluding CDs) on a trial basis in Cape Town in early January, the company revealed in its 2004 annual report.
Global resources group BHP Billiton and United States aluminium group Alcoa on Tuesday announced that they have completed the sale of Integris Metals to Ryerson Tull for $644-million (about R3,7-billion). The $644-million will be made up of $410-million in cash plus assumption of Integris’s debt, which is about $234-million.
The bodies of two more South African victims of last week’s tsunami disaster in south-east Asia have been identified — bringing the number of confirmed South African deaths to nine. Meanwhile, South Africans have donated R2,5-million towards the tsunami Asia appeal.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=177407">Scale of disaster still grows</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=177409">Criminals may target orphans</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=177396">Tsunami aid flights back on track</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=177374">Sumatra aid efforts hampered</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=177380">Remarkable tales of survival</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=177352">World’s largest forensic operation</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=177354">SA volunteers start work in Sumatra</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/content/l3_fl2.asp?cg=tsunami%20disaster&o=194303"><b>Tsunami disaster special report</b></a>
Measured against the top international behemoths, South Africa and Africa look pretty insignificant on the world adspend stage. Harry Herber gives us the sobering stats.
Should television cameras be allowed in court? Dan Rosengarten, the attorney that represented e.tv in their application to televise the Shaik trial, gets into the arguments.