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/ 12 October 2007
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Democrat Al Gore and the United Nations climate panel on Friday intensified pressure on the former United States vice-president to launch a late bid for the presidency, but advisers said he is showing no signs of interest in the 2008 race.
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/ 11 October 2007
A court was to rule on Thursday whether 11 of Zimbabwe’s last remaining white farmers should stand trial after they stayed on their properties in defiance of a government eviction order. A magistrate in the farming town of Chegutu will also to decide whether the 11 can appeal against their impending eviction.
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/ 10 October 2007
Charges against a man accused of participating in the murder of ten KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) women were withdrawn in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. The state has withdrawn its charges against Zandisile Bhadla Somanikiniki (28), who resides in the Majola, Port St Johns, area but no reasons were given for the withdrawal.
Pakistani jets pounded militant hideouts near a troubled tribal town for the third day on Tuesday as officials said about 250 people had died in some of the heaviest clashes since 2001. The fighting has forced thousands to flee from Mir Ali, a town that President Pervez Musharraf has previously pinpointed as a den of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
Thousands of families began fleeing a town in a Pakistani tribal region after three days of fierce clashes between pro-Taliban militants and security forces that killed nearly 200 people. Around 150 militants and 45 soldiers were killed in fighting around Mir Ali, a town known as an al-Qaeda haunt.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday called for unity among the country’s main political rivals to revive the country’s moribund agricultural sector. ”Let’s work together, all of us,” Mugabe said at a ceremony in the capital, Harare, where he commissioned a range of farming equipment to be distributed to fledgling farmers.
Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf swept the most votes in a presidential election on Saturday but he has to wait for the Supreme Court to confirm the legality of his bid before he can be declared winner. Doubts over whether the election result will stand have fuelled uncertainty.
Pakistani lawmakers began voting on Saturday in a presidential election that Pervez Musharraf is set to win despite a court ruling that delays the declaration of a result and could yet deny him victory. Musharraf, who seized control of the world’s only nuclear-armed Islamic nation in a 1999 coup, is assured of the votes he needs for another five year-term.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court kept the fate of President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid in its hands by deciding a vote could go ahead on Saturday, but a winner cannot be declared until it rules if he was eligible to stand. United States ally General Musharraf is sure to win the vote in Parliament and the country’s four provincial assemblies.
The use of lethal injections in the United States has led to at least nine bungled executions, including one in which the prisoner took 69 minutes to die and another in which the condemned man complained five times: ”It don’t work,” a report by Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Any attempt by the South African National Geographical Names Council to consider the name-change request to change Potchefstroom to Tlokwe will result in court action, Action Potchefstroom said on Wednesday. Spokesperson for the civic organisation Theo Venter said the request for the name change was fundamentally flawed.
A recent Supreme Court of Appeal judgement poses a conundrum for minimum sentencing legislation. When a judge or magistrate sentences, he or she must treat the offender as a unique individual within the context of the crime committed, the effects on the victim and family and the interests of the community.
Schabir Shaik, former financial adviser to Jacob Zuma, on Tuesday lost his final appeal against fraud and corruption charges and a 15-year prison sentence. Shaik’s appeal to bring new evidence was dismissed and the court ruled that his trial was not unfair.
Pakistani opposition lawyers made a last-ditch effort on Tuesday to block President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election, telling the Supreme Court as army chief he should be ineligible and Saturday’s vote should be postponed. Once re-elected Musharraf has vowed to quit as army chief and become a civilian leader.
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/ 28 September 2007
Three appeal court judges on Friday set aside the life-imprisonment sentence of Mark Scott-Crossley, the man earlier convicted in the Phalaborwa Circuit Court of murder for throwing Nelson Oupa Chisale to lions in January 2004. The Supreme Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgement, upheld an appeal by Scott-Crossley against his conviction for murdering Chisale.
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/ 27 September 2007
Pakistan military leader President Pervez Musharraf filed nomination papers on Thursday to run for re-election on October 6, while the Supreme Court prepared to rule on the army chief’s eligibility to stand. A bench of nine judges is due to deliver a ruling on Friday that could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan’s transition to greater democracy.
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/ 24 September 2007
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The deputy president of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, is to lunch with top international fund managers on Wednesday at Citigroup. This follows a report posted on the Financial Times that Citigroup was to host a dozen top international fund managers to a private lunch with Zuma.
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/ 21 September 2007
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Judgement was reserved by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday in the appeal hearing of Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thint against efforts by the national director of public prosecutions to get original documents from Mauritius related to investigations against them.
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/ 21 September 2007
Chile’s Supreme Court said on Friday it had ruled to extradite Peru’s former president Alberto Fujimori to face charges of embezzlement and human rights abuses during the 1990s. Fujimori (69) has been in Chile since November 2005, when he was arrested on an international warrant.
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/ 21 September 2007
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The state’s premature attempt to gather evidence violates African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma’s right to a fair trial, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Friday. The Durban High Court has issued a letter of request for documents from Mauritius the state wants for a possible corruption trial against Zuma.
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/ 21 September 2007
Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf appointed a new military spy chief and made several other promotions on Friday, days after announcing his plan to step down as head of the army. Appointments are closely watched in Pakistan, as generals have ruled for more than half of the 60 years since the country was founded.
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/ 19 September 2007
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Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint will be back in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Friday. They will appeal against a high court decision on documents in Mauritius, which South African prosecutors are seeking in an investigation.
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/ 19 September 2007
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula was on Wednesday granted leave by the Pretoria High Court to appeal against a ruling that he rebuild the shacks of a group of squatters or face arrest. The minister was also once again ordered to rebuild some of the demolished shacks before noon on Friday.
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/ 19 September 2007
"Let’s stop meaningless journalism." That was the cry from new South African press ombudsman Joe Nong Thloloe at a forum, themed Leading Conversations, held on Tuesday. Thloloe, a former South African Broadcasting Corporation and e.tv news editor-in-chief, was appointed to the position at the launch of the new Press Council of South Africa on Friday August 3.
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/ 18 September 2007
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf will give up his post of army chief if he is re-elected president and he will be sworn in for a new term as a civilian, his lawyer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The promise to stand down as army chief removes a major objection to Musharraf’s proposed re-election by October 15.
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/ 17 September 2007
Sierra Leone opposition leader Ernest Bai Koroma won the West African country’s presidential election after a tense run-off vote marred by some cases of fraud, the National Electoral Commission said on Monday. Koroma, a 53-year-old candidate of the opposition All People’s Congress, was declared the winner with 54,6% of valid votes.
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/ 17 September 2007
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf plans to quit as army chief to become a civilian leader, removing a key objection to his proposed re-election in October. Musharraf has been holding the post of army chief since he seized power in a military coup in 1999 despite calls from the opposition to quit the dual office.
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/ 10 September 2007
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia on Monday within hours of arriving home from exile, vowing to end the rule of President Pervez Musharraf. While with the deportation Musharraf has fended off the immediate challenge from a rival, the president is likely to face a backlash from many Pakistanis.
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/ 10 September 2007
Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif launched another phase of his political career on Monday, returning home to challenge the army chief who ousted him eight years ago. Despite the possibility of arrest on graft charges as he steps off his aircraft in Islamabad, Sharif says he is determined to end his exile.
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/ 9 September 2007
Pakistani authorities tightened security at Islamabad’s airport after detaining more than 2 000 supporters of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his party said on Sunday, the eve of his planned return. Sharif, ousted by army chief General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, says he is determined to fly home from London on Monday.
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/ 6 September 2007
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The African National Congress Youth League has vowed to stick by Jacob Zuma as its candidate for president of the country, even if new criminal charges were brought against him. ”He is innocent until proven guilty … until such time we will continue to support the deputy president,” league president Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday.
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/ 5 September 2007
Pakistan’s Supreme Court began hearing legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf’s rule on Wednesday, adding to the woes the embattled United States ally faces as he prepares to secure another term. Musharraf hopes to get re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies between September 15 and October 15.