News Bites
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 10 April 2012 17:19
- Written by Chris van der Westhuyzen
Five short news snippets of the most important news over the last two weeks.
Assad’s peace plan for Syria
UN – Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had accepted an April 10 deadline to start implementing a peace plan. This includes a complete troop and heavy-weapon withdrawal. US ambassador Susan Rice remained sceptical of Assad’s commitment: “Rather than a diminution of the violence, we might yet again see an escalation of the violence.” More than 10 000 civilians have been killed since the uprising started in January 2011. – News24
Deadly shooting at Californian university
Oakland – Seven people have been killed and at least three more injured in a shooting at Oikos University, a private institution in California. According to police spokeswoman Johnna Watson, the detained suspect is a former student of the college known as One Goh, 43. – guardian.co.uk
MTN in US court for corrupt dealings in Iran
Iran – Iranian cellphone company Turkcell is suing MTN for R32 billion for what it claims were acts of corruption and bribery in MTN’s attempt to obtain a lucrative cellphone operator’s licence in Iran. Further allegations against MTN include “human rights violations” after it allegedly offered to spy on its subscribers on behalf of the Iranian defence department. – iol.co.za
Mali coup leader calls for elections
Bamako – Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, the junior officer who overthrew Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure in a military coup last month, has declared amid enormous international pressure that he will be reinstating the 1992 constitution and is planning to hold elections. Although he did not specify a deadline, Sanogo said he would set up a transitional government which will organise free and fair elections. – timeslive.co.za
DA implicates Madiba in party politics
Cape Town – The DA accused the ANC-led Eastern Cape of being ill-equipped after it was forced to borrow a specialised ambulance from the Western Cape government to transport aging former president Nelson Mandela to hospital when he became ill in January last year. The defence ministry said it was “shocked” by the DA “compromising the details of Madiba’s health and transport logistics to gain small political points.” – timeslive.co.za