The Israeli government has quietly seized thousands of hectares of Palestinian-owned land in and around east Jerusalem after a secret Cabinet decision to use a 55-year-old law against Arabs separated from farms and orchards by the vast ”security barrier”.

At The Bovine Head Cookers’ Market, sheep heads, which arrive frozen in municipal plastic bags, are deftly skinned and chopped with cleavers. The meat is then boiled in big pots, each straddling three paraffin stoves. It’s a messy business. But the market is clean and orderly — the result of a joint effort between iTrump, the municipal agency charged with regenerating Thekwini’s inner city, and traders.

Millions of Iraqis defied a surge of bombings and suicide attacks on Sunday to go to the polls in greater than expected numbers for the first democratic elections for 50 years. The electoral commission’s provisional estimate of turnout was 57%.

With the opening of his long-awaited trial just a day away, Michael Jackson on Sunday released a video statement rebutting the child molestation charges against him and condemning court transcript leaks outlining the prosecution case. He predicted in the statement that he would be acquitted in the trial, which is expected to last five months.

Ferial Haffajee speaks to François Beukmann, chairperson of the standing committee of public accounts (Scopa). Among the questions she asks is whether or not he would revisit the issue of the arms deal, his reaction to media reports and what Scopa can do to repair the damage of the reputation of the Office of the Auditor General.

Mwanvua Silimu has just told a lie and everyone in the room knows it. She stares at her feet, silent. The 14-year-old is back home after months as the prisoner of vagabond soldiers, relating her ordeal. It is the obvious question, and her family ask it: how many of her 13 kidnappers raped her? In little more than a whisper, Mwanvua replies ”one”.