British Airways said on Tuesday that Angola had suspended its flight licence to operate in the African nation in a move seen as retaliatory after European Union steps to ban Angolan airline TAAG on safety grounds. ”The Angolan CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] took away the operating permit that we had …,” a BA spokesperson said.
North Korea has agreed to wide-ranging United Nations measures to verify a shutdown of its atom-bomb programme, nuclear inspectors said on Tuesday, but doubts arose about when disarmament would begin. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, said he would recommend its governing board ratify a new inspector mission.
Sri Lanka took charge of the second cricket Test after Bangladesh crashed to their lowest total of 62 on the opening day’s play on Tuesday. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed four wickets each as Bangladesh, sent in to bat by Sri Lanka, were dismissed in the first over after lunch off 25.2 overs.
Allan Donald has had his role as England’s bowling adviser extended until the end of the inaugural World Twenty20 in his native South Africa in September, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Tuesday. Donald had been due to finish his initial five-week tenure with England at the end of the current one-day international series against the West Indies.
Pakistani security forces fought fierce gun battles with students at a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad on Tuesday after a lengthy stand-off exploded into violence, leaving nine dead and 140 hurt. Clerics at the radical Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, threatened suicide attacks to avenge the "blood of martyrs" after the day-long clashes.
Tentative moves by Nigeria’s new government to subdue attacks on the oil industry have drawn mixed reactions from rebel factions in the Niger Delta and sporadic violence is hampering the fledgling peace process. A one-month truce declared by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta expires on Tuesday.
Child Welfare South Africa on Tuesday welcomed the implementation of some sections of the Children’s Act from last Sunday, but also expressed concern about giving young children access to contraceptives. This section stipulates that no person may refuse to sell or distribute free condoms to a child over the age of 12 years.
South Africa’s population at mid-year is estimated at 47,9-million, of which approximately 24,3-million are female, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Trevor Oosterwyk said Stats SA estimated that fertility had declined from an average of 2,89 children per woman in 2001 to 2,69 children by 2007.
A young HIV-positive Aids activist who filed rape charges against former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma has been granted asylum in The Netherlands, a daily said on Tuesday. The woman (32), who arrived in The Netherlands last year after losing a lawsuit against Zuma, has been granted a five-year residency permit, De Volkskrant said.
Najwa Petersen stabbed her husband, Taliep, in the neck the day after she was discharged from psychiatric treatment, the Wynberg Regional Court heard on Tuesday. Najwa, who is appearing with Abdoer Emjedi, Waheed Hassen and Jefferson Snyders in connection with Taliep’s murder in December last year, is seeking bail.