No image available
/ 9 December 2006
Elderly Mohammed Nabi pounded his fist on the rug at his mudbrick house in south-west Pakistan and told how the Taliban recruited his cousin to avenge Nato bombings across the border. "He didn’t say he was going for jihad, he said he was going to Afghanistan to visit our ancestral village about two months ago," raged the white-bearded Afghan refugee.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
Cape Judge President John Hlophe has been cleared of wrongdoing over his receipt of a R10 000 monthly retainer for work done for the asset management group Oasis, media reports said on Friday. The Judicial Service Commission announced his exoneration in a statement released after a meeting on Friday afternoon.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
Andrei Lugovoy, a contact of poisoned Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, is suffering from radiation poisoning, Interfax news agency said on Friday, quoting medical sources. ”Disruption in the functioning of some organs affected by radiation nuclides has been found,” the agency quoted a source as saying.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
The International Paralympic Committee’s World Swimming Championships finished just like they started, with Natalie du Toit winning a gold medal. The South African claimed her sixth gold this week, in the final event, the 5km open-water swim at the Hazelmere Dam.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) formally declared a dispute on Friday with the Department of Education over non-payment of teachers. The dispute was declared over an agreement on incentives — termed ”accelerated progression payments” for good performance — Sadtu said.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
The Democratic Alliance (DA) criticised the Tshwane metro police chief on Friday for supporting police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, saying it is unprofessional. DA councillor Karen Meyer said in a statement that it was ”with utmost dismay” that the DA had noted metro police chief Hlula Msimang’s public support of Selebi. Meyer was responding to a statement issued by the municipal police chiefs on Thursday.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
A Palestinian child playing with a plastic rifle was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers near the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Friday, medical and security sources said. Miras al-Azza (12) was shot in the belly when Israel soldiers opened fire on a group of children playing with a plastic rifle in the Aydah refugee camp.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
The threat of a possible terrorist attack was the main reason for postponing a South-east Asian summit due to start on Sunday on the Philippine island of Cebu, foreign ministry sources said. The Philippines government earlier blamed a building tropical storm in the Pacific for calling off the summit.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
Fierce fighting erupted on Friday between forces loyal to Somalia’s weak Ethiopian-backed government and powerful Islamists south of the government’s seat of Baidoa, the two sides said. Senior government and Islamist officials said the clashes began at midday around Dinsoor, 110km south of Baidoa, with each putting the blame on the other party.
No image available
/ 8 December 2006
The Kenyan Parliament’s decision to raise President Mwai Kibaki’s salary by 186% has outraged many in the East African nation where more than half the population lives on less than a day. Parliament voted this week to raise Kibaki’s monthly salary to nearly  000 a month, plus allowances of  600, officials said.