President Thabo Mbeki has assured incoming Chief Justice Pius Langa and his deputy, Judge Dikgang Moseneke, of the African National Congress’s commitment to judicial independence. ”We will, in word and deed, respect their right and duty to carry out their tasks as part of an independent judiciary,” he said on Friday.
A spam e-mail that claims Michael Jackson has made a suicide attempt masks a ”Trojan horse” virus that infects computers, a British-headquartered software security firm said on Friday. The e-mail says Jackson made a ”suicidal aattempt” (sic) and invites the recipient to click on a link to see a supposed suicide note.
The United States trade deficit rose by a modest 6,3% to -billion in April, despite record sales of exports, including civilian aircraft, the government said on Friday. Wall Street was expecting the shortfall to widen to -billion, compared with a revised ,6-billion in March.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is to broaden an internal probe to include staff members leaking ”incorrect information” to the media on the fate of Deputy President Jacob Zuma. The NPA denied a Mail & Guardian report that it was preparing to charge Zuma following the fraud and corruption conviction of Schabir Shaik.
One person was killed and at least five others seriously injured on Wednesday in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, when an escalator suddenly started moving and they were caught in the machinery, a hospital official said. Six people were in intensive care, a doctor said — including one whose arms were torn off at the shoulder.
The United States on Friday expressed its ”unequivocal” support for embattled Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and said there appears to be no real danger of a coup despite rumours. Arroyo has placed military and police forces on full alert as rumours swirl of a plot against her, fuelled by allegations she rigged last year’s election.
A millionaire British businessman, Friedhelm Eronat, was named on Thursday night as the purchaser of oil rights in the Darfur region of Sudan, where the regime is accused of war crimes and where millions of tribespeople are alleged to have been forced to flee, amid mass rapes or murders.
Margaret Okello was nine months pregnant when soldiers from the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army came into her village outside the Northern Ugandan town of Gulu. They dragged her deep into the bush of the surrounding savannah and cut off her nose, ears and lips.
Burundi’s lone remaining Hutu rebel group on Friday accused the government of repeatedly violating a tentative truce signed last month, amid counter-accusations from Bujumbura. ”Burundi government troops have been repeatedly attacking us since May 17,” said National Liberation Forces spokesperson Pasteur Habimana.
The Jacob Zuma saga has forced President Thabo Mbeki into the zugzwang chess position, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday. ”This is a position in which a player has to move but he can only do so with loss or severe disadvantage,” Leon said. It was still not known by Friday when Mbeki would speak on Zuma’s fate.