South Africa's former deputy president Jacob Zuma and two French arms companies were formally indicted on a corruption charge on Friday in preparation for a potentially explosive trial set to begin on July 31.
Zuma was dismissed as deputy president in June, but is still No. 2 in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and retains huge support among the rank and file of the movement. For that reason, the corruption scandal has created a widening rift in the ANC.
The case also has thrown wide open the question of who will succeed President Thabo Mbeki at the end of his final term in 2009. Zuma was the once the favorite to be Mbeki's successor.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said Thint Holdings, formerly known as Thomson-CSF, and Thint, formerly known as Thomson, had been named as accused numbers two and three.
"Written notice to appear at the Durban High Court on July 31, 2006 was served on both Thint companies in Pretoria this morning [Friday]," Nkosi said.
Nkosi said that the companies would face charges of corruption related to those of Zuma.
Zuma has made one appearance on an initial charge of corruption that emanated from the trial of his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik, who is appealing his 15-year jail sentence for fraud and corruption.
Zuma has repeatedly protested his innocence and made it plain that he has not relinquished his ambitions of becoming president.
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field
Brazil, the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, saw its Catholic population decline further in 2022, while evangelical Christians and those with no religion continued to rise, census data released on Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed. The census indicated that Brazil had 100.2 million Roman Catholics in 2022, accounting for 56.7 percent of the population, down from 65.1 percent or 105.4 million recorded in the 2010 census. Meanwhile, the share of evangelical Christians rose to 26.9 percent last year, up from 21.6 percent in 2010, adding 12 million followers to reach 47.4 million — the highest figure
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there. Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement. They are being held at a detention center ahead of a
‘THE RED LINE’: Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised a thorough probe into the attack on the senator, who had announced his presidential bid in March Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.” The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. The Santa Fe Foundation
RSS