No image available
/ 8 November 2004
A series of powerful tremors on Monday rattled a central Japanese region still reeling from last month’s earthquake, slightly injuring 13 people just as the last schools shut by the tragedy reopened. Nineteen tremors, with the strongest measuring 5,9 on the Richter scale and felt in Tokyo, struck in Niigata prefecture.
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
While the United States government says Osama bin Laden shouldn’t be allowed time on the airwaves, media executives around the world say he’s a newsmaker. The BBC, Sky News and CNN were among television stations quick to pick up the latest video from the September 11 mastermind after it was aired last month on Qatar-based Al-Jazeera.
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
The defence team in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial opposed the state’s application on Monday to allow a witness to testify via video link from Glasgow, Scotland. Professor John Lennon will only be able to travel to South Africa in either February or March 2005, which the state says is an unnecessary delay in the case before the Durban High Court.
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
The chairperson of South Africa’s national daily ThisDay, Nduka Obaigbena, is expected to announce the newspaper’s fate after a staff meeting due to be held on Wednesday, said ThisDay executive director and special adviser to Obaigbena, Gbenga Oni-Olusola.
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
A vast effort by the United Nations refugee agency and the Liberian government to return an estimated 500 000 internally displaced people to their home counties was poised to begin on Monday. The operation is seen as a key step in helping Liberia prepare for elections set for October next year.
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
French troops fired in the air on Monday to disperse thousands of protesters gathered in the main Côte d’Ivoire city of Abidjan. A crowd tried unsuccessfully to break through a security cordon set up around the Hotel Ivoire, where about 50 French armoured vehicles have been stationed since late on Sunday.
Mbeki tasked with defusing crisis
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
The caretaker Palestinian leadership decided to travel to Yasser Arafat’s bedside on Monday, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said, reversing a decision to call off the trip after critical comments by the ailing leader’s wife. Shaath will be travelling with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.
Leaders’ visit adds to confusion
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
A thwarted escape attempt by three inmates appears to have been behind the deaths of two officials and two prisoners at Pretoria’s C-Max jail on Sunday, the Department of Correctional Services said on Monday. ”It appears that they shot themselves when they realised their plan was not going to work,” said a spokesperson.
C-Max killings a ‘wake-up call’
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
As a Muslim and frequent flyer, American businessman Syed Maswood is used to being wrongly suspected as an Islamic terrorist. He’s not used to being called a United States spy in the Arab world. The Connecticut nuclear engineer was arrested during a business trip in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of being a CIA and FBI informant.
No image available
/ 8 November 2004
Sun International has consolidated its leading position in South Africa’s R7,34-billion casino industry over the past year, and is now ready to pursue regional and international opportunities in the gaming, hotel and resort sectors, according to CEO Peter Bacon.