An agreement to distribute R11-billion of the metal industry’ pension and provident funds surplus was reached on Monday by the National Union Of Metalworkers (Numsa) and the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation (Seifsa). ”The trustees of the two funds will meet again to work out the details of allocation,” said Numsa spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli.
At least 35 Rwandans accused in local grassroots tribunals of participating in the country’s 1994 genocide have committed suicide in the past five months, officials said on Monday. The suicides have all come within days of the accused persons being named as genocide perpetrators appearing before traditional gacaca courts, they said.
Japanese tyre-maker Bridgestone said on Monday it was ”too early” to say whether it would benefit from a severe blow to rival Michelin caused by the French company’s tyres proving unsafe to use at the US Grand Prix. Michelin has rejected any blame for advising seven formula one teams to pull out of Sunday’s race because of fears its tyres might be dangerous.
Howard Powell scales the mounds of rubble at the former Akro Agate factory site, occasionally bending over to pick up a glass marble that catches his eye. He never knows what he’ll find, and for Powell that’s the best reward. Powell spends hundreds of hours travelling, digging, cleaning and cataloguing the treasures he unearths.
Afghan intelligence officials have thwarted a plot to assassinate US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and arrested three Pakistanis armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles, a spokesperson for President Hamid Karzai said on Monday. Two senior Afghan officials said the men had confessed to their crimes and said they were in Afghanistan ”to fight jihad.”
It’s more retro than techno, in the hips, not the head.
Erika Schutze discovers the appeal of acid jazz
Côte d’Ivoire peace talks scheduled for Pretoria this weekend were postponed on Monday because not all parties could attend, said a spokesperson from the office of South African president Thabo Mbeki. ”We are trying to get all parties down here,” said Bheki Khumalo, adding that a future date had not yet been proposed.
Australia star Shane Warne was reported on Monday to be fighting to save his marriage after new claims he cheated on his wife with a student. The 35-year-old spin bowler, who has been involved in a series of scandals, allegedly stripped naked and begged Laura Sayers (25) for sex before she gave in to his pleas.
After a long-delayed weekend return from exile to his native country, Somalia’s prime minister on Monday began talks with warlords and other power-brokers on finding a home for his transitional government in the lawless war-shattered nation. A debate is currently raging over where the administration should set up shop.
The director general in the presidency, Frank Chikane, has been asked by an opposition MP to investigate whether the Minister of Social Development, Zola Skweyiya, may have contravened the Executive Members’ Ethics Act. The question has been raised of whether a payment to Skweyiya constitutes an attempt to buy influence.