The families of Islamist fighters besieged in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon were evacuated by the army on Friday, opening the way for a possible final military assault. The military agreed to a temporary truce on Friday with the Fatah al-Islam fighters to allow the civilians to leave the camp.
Russian prosecutors announced an investigation on Friday after the discovery of what are thought to be the remains of the last two unaccounted children of murdered Tsar Nicholas II: his heir Alexei and daughter Maria. The prosecutor general’s office is reopening a criminal investigation into the 1918 murder of Russia’s royal family.
Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa are not entitled to refugee status and border camps should not be set up to accommodate them, a senior Department of Home Affairs official said on Friday. South Africa has received the largest number of people escaping food and fuel shortages in Zimbabwe.
South African swimming team captain Gerhard Zandberg was on top of the world after taking the 50m freestyle honours in the fastest time swam by a South African this year, at the International Swim Meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday. Port Elizabeth’s Shaun Harris won the 50m freestyle B final in 22,87 seconds.
A Finnish court ruled against a 15-year-old student in a libel case on Friday after he posted a clip of his teacher on YouTube, ordering the youth to pay €800 (about R7 900) in damages and a €90 (R890) fine. The student had filmed his teacher singing at a school party last May.
The National Treasury has agreed to make a R1,5-billion loan guarantee and a cash injection of R700-million for the Land Bank to make the state agricultural financier more effective, an official said on Friday. The National Treasury has been working on the turnaround strategy of the Land Bank.
At least six people died and thousands of hectares of forest were consumed in fires racing through Greece’s southerly Peloponnese peninsula on Friday, officials said. Four people were found dead near a hotel north of the town of Areopolis, about 300km south of Athens, and two firefighters also died, the fire brigade and police said.
Gauteng education minister Angie Motshekga said on Friday she had no knowledge of any investigation of her by the Auditor General. She was reacting to reports that she was being investigated by the Auditor General for possible tender irregularities. ”I do not know of any investigation by the AG against me,” she said.
The Scorpions are investigating the Durban University of Technology, but the National Prosecuting Authority on Friday would not release any details about the investigation. Professor Jonathan Jansen, administrator of the troubled institution, first mentioned the Scorpions investigation last November.
The national office of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) on Friday rejected a request by the organisation’s Gauteng branch to investigate Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya. It said the call came from a group that exists parallel to the official provincial Sanco structure in Gauteng