No image available
/ 19 December 2006
Prosecutors in Saddam Hussein’s trial for genocide against ethnic Kurds showed graphic footage on Tuesday of dead civilians, including infants, allegedly killed in chemical attacks on their villages. Chief prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon also showed the court a memo that praised a Dutch businessman for supplying Baghdad with banned chemical weapons.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
Gun battles raged between Hamas loyalists and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s forces in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least three people and reviving fears the strip could slip into civil war. Internal Palestinian fighting — the worst in a decade — has escalated since Abbas called on Saturday for early elections in an attempt to break a political deadlock.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
Robbers have beaten to death the wife of a former Cabinet minister in her East Rand home, the Star reported on Tuesday Three gunmen beat, pistol-whipped and strangled Sandra Rabie (48) outside the garage of her Boksburg home at 11pm on Thursday. Rabie was the wife of Jac Rabie (66), former minister of population development in the National Party government of FW De Klerk.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
The African National Congress (ANC) government is undermining Parliament through its inability to respond to 177 written questions posed by the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) during 2006, DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said on Tuesday. Gibson said four departments were responsible for 97 of the outstanding replies.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
A new $500-million fibre optic cable between China and the United States will be vital in helping to meet booming internet traffic between the two nations, state press reported on Tuesday. US telecom giant Verizon Communications announced on Monday it would build the cable in a joint project with firms from China, South Korea and Taiwan.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
Violent attacks in Iraq have soared to the highest level on record, the Pentagon said in a quarterly report, describing Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia as the single largest threat to stability. The report, released just hours after former CIA chief Robert Gates was sworn in on Monday as the new defence secretary, said there was an average of 959 attacks per week between August 12 and November 10.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
President Thabo Mbeki is ”satisfied” that the Pretoria High Court turned down an application to reinstate former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) director general Billy Masetlha, his office said on Tuesday. As always, the president accepted the outcome of the judiciary, but was satisfied with the outcome of this particular case, said presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday urged Zimbabwe to institute sharp cuts in public spending to prevent a further unravelling of its economy after wrapping up a two-week assessment. ”Going forward, the key will be first to ensure that sharp cuts are made in real terms in fiscal spending,” the global lender said in a statement.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
A Libyan court on Tuesday found five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor guilty of infecting hundreds of children with the HI-virus that causes Aids and sentenced them all to death. The verdict and sentences were announced by judge Mahmoud Haouissa.
No image available
/ 19 December 2006
Thieves have broken into the Johannesburg Central police station where they partied on liquor from the officer’s canteen and raided a commissioner’s office, stealing cellphones, Beeld newspaper reported on Tuesday. The burglars slipped through the charge office unnoticed, also making their way unseen past a private security guard after the close of business on Friday.