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The Gauteng Education Department on Monday said it will announce this week when the matric preliminary exams will start. The department postponed the exams for two weeks because of the public servants’ strike.

Thousands of the country’s school children have had their teaching disrupted because their teachers were taking part in the national strike. But some schools that were ready started exams on Friday.

 

The department’s Charles Phahlane said they were now trying to organise a date for the majority of schools to start exams.

 

“There were 65 percent of schools that were not ready to proceed. We will make an announcement this week on how we will proceed with those examinations,” said Phahlane.

 

The public servants’ strike was suspended for 21 days while negotiations with government continued.

 

Over one million civil servants who had been on strike for the past 20 days were expected to return to work from Tuesday.

Twilight star Taylor Lautner has settled his lawsuit against a California RV dealership that failed to deliver his $300,000 (195,000 pounds) trailer in time for the shoot of his latest movie.

According to USmagazine.com, McMahon’s RV has agreed to pay $40,000, which Lautner lawyer Robert Barta says will be donated to the Lollipop Theatre Network, a children’s charity supported by the actor.

McMahon’s lawyer, Adam Obeid, declined to comment beyond confirming the basic details. The company probably got more than $40,000 worth of publicity when owner Brent McMahon offered to settle the case with a push-up contest, drawing the immediate scorn of Lautner’s lawyer.

Australia’s agonising wait for a new government is expected to end on Tuesday when independent lawmakers reveal who they will back, but there is still no clear favourite for who will head the minority government.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labour Party is narrowly favoured by bookmakers to win the race to form a minority government, but there was speculation among some political reporters that conservative leader Tony Abbott may have sealed a last-minute deal to become prime minister.

If Labour regains power after inconclusive August 21 elections, it plans to go ahead with a mining tax, a $38 billion national telecoms project and resume working towards a carbon market. The conservatives oppose all three policies.

"We haven’t made a final decision yet," Tony Windsor, one of the three undecided independent lawmakers, told reporters as he entered parliament house for final deliberations.

After the August 21 polls, both Labour and the opposition conservatives finished short of the 76 seats needed to form a majority administration in the 150-seat lower house.

"If Labour get in, we’re not expecting much of a reaction but if the coalition were to form government, we could see some upward pressure," said Ben Potter from IG Markets.

Australia’s benchmark stock index was barely changed in morning trade, while the local dollar was just below a one-month high at $0.9150. Traders were also cautious ahead of a rates decision due later by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

A conservative win would likely boost shares in miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, as well as telecom giant Telstra Corp. The conservatives have also promised to open uranium sales to India.

Labour has a block of 74 seats, including an alliance with one Green MP and an independent lawmaker, and the conservatives have 73 seats, leaving the three remaining independents to decide which of the major parties can form an administration.

Windsor suggested a decision could be announced around 2 p.m. (5 a.m. British time) but he would not be drawn on which way he was leaning, not how the other two independents were inclined.

"My guess would be probably early afternoon. But as soon as we can announce it, we will," Windsor said.

The three remaining independents, who all hail from rural Australia, plan to make their decision after receiving final documents from Labour and the conservative Liberal-National coalition on Tuesday morning.

Even though all three were once members of the coalition’s junior party, the Nationals, two of them have signalled they may not side with their old colleagues, each having fallen out with them over the years on issues focussing on rural communities.

The three are all supportive of Labor’s $38 billion plan to build a national fibre-optic broadband network, which would help communications in rural and remote areas.

Windsor said the most important factor was to put together a stable government that could work for some time.

The Nationals’ leader in the upper house Senate, Barnaby Joyce, said it appeared the remaining independents might not back the conservatives. "You get a sense that the momentum’s slipping away from us," Joyce told ABC.

Kevin Pietersen was fined on Monday following his online outburst after being dropped by England for the first time in his career.

"He has been fined an undisclosed sum in accordance with the terms and conditions of his England Central Contract," the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.

The 30-year-old batsman posted a Twitter message last Tuesday announcing that he had been dropped for the one-day series at home to Pakistan. The message contained an expletive.

Pietersen’s punishment was decided after an ECB disciplinary hearing at Lord’s convened by Hugh Morris, Managing Director of England Cricket and England team director Andy Flower.

"The hearing considered two charges against Kevin Pietersen relating to recent comments made on Twitter following his omission from England’s one-day squad for the series against Pakistan," the statement said.

"Pietersen pleaded guilty to both charges and offered an unreserved apology to ECB and the England team management for his actions."

The former England captain apologised publicly last Wednesday, insisting on Surrey TV that his comments "had not been for the public domain."

The ECB said Pietersen had been dropped so that he could regain some form with county side Surrey after a run of disappointing scores.

Iran is pushing ahead with its nuclear programme in defiance of tougher sanctions and is hampering the U.N. atom watchdog’s work by barring some inspectors, the IAEA says in a new report.

A confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, obtained by Reuters on Monday, also voices continued concern about possible activities in Iran to develop a nuclear-armed missile.

Washington called the report "troubling" while Tehran, which rejects Western accusations it is seeking to build nuclear bombs, said it was unbalanced.

"This is a pretty critical report and it seems the sides have reached an impasse," said David Albright, head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.

The eight-year international dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities has the potential to set off a regional arms race and spark a conflict in the Middle East.

The United States said the new report showed that Tehran was still trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

"The IAEA’s reports of obstruction and Iran’s failure to cooperate are troubling to all who care about non-proliferation and global security," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, said the report by new agency chief Yukiya Amano "has damaged the agency’s technical reputation" and was "not balanced" compared to those of Amano’s predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei.

He said all of Iran’s nuclear activities were under the IAEA’s "complete supervision," Mehr News Agency reported.

Last month, a former top U.N. nuclear official was quoted as saying that Iran had stockpiled enough low-enriched uranium for 1-2 nuclear weapons but it would not make sense for it to cross the bomb-making threshold with only this amount.

The West hopes the imposition since June of additional U.N., U.S. and European sanctions on Iran -- including measures that target its lifeblood oil and gas sectors -- will persuade the Iranian leadership to back down and halt sensitive activity.

INSPECTORS UNDER "PRESSURE"

Iran repeatedly has rejected such demands and is sending mixed signals about its readiness to negotiate with the West, offering unconditional talks on a stalled plan to swap nuclear fuel but setting terms for any broader discussions.

The IAEA report voiced concern about what it called Iran’s "repeated" objections to its choice of some inspectors with Iran-specific experience, saying this "hampers the inspection process" and effectiveness of their work in the country.

Tehran barred two inspectors from entering in June, accusing them of wrongly reporting that some nuclear equipment was missing. Iran also denied access to a senior inspector in 2006 and also has objected to other appointments in the past.

A diplomat familiar with the IAEA’s Iran investigation said this increased "pressure" on the inspectors and made their work more difficult even though the agency still had "a good number" of inspectors in Iran able to carry out the work.

But ISIS’s Albright said the incidents showed "the erosion of the IAEA’s ability to do its job."

The IAEA for years has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, to stage missile tests and to revamp a ballistic missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.

Tehran says the intelligence is forged, but its record of secrecy has stoked suspicions, heightened by the launch in February of higher-grade uranium enrichment of 20 percent fissile purity, bringing it closer to weapons-grade material.

The IAEA called on Iran -- which says its work is aimed at generating electricity -- to grant the U.N. agency access to relevant sites, equipment and people "without further delay."

The report said Iran had produced around 2.8 tonnes of low-enriched uranium, up from 2.4 tonnes in May, as well as 22-kg (48.5 lb) of the higher-grade material.

It said there had been four cases when agency seals designed to prevent any diversion of nuclear material had been broken at Iran’s Natanz enrichment plant. Iran said they were accidental but the IAEA said it would look into the issue.

"It’s not ok. They are there for a purpose -- the purpose is to make sure there is containment. Once a seal is broken there is no containment," said another person familiar with the Iran probe.

Former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi will petition South Africa’s chief justice to continue trying to have his trial declared unfair.

 

On Monday, he was granted leave to appeal a court finding that he received corrupt payments from former friend and drug-dealer Glenn Agliotti. But Judge Meyer Joffe dismissed other aspects of his appeal including complaints of a biased judge, malicious prosecution and an unfair trial.

 

Selebi will now concentrate on petitioning the chief justice, as well as preparing for a fresh hearing in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

While Selebi’s team will need to approach the chief justice within several weeks, his hearing at the Bloemfontein court is not likely to be heard until next year.

His lawyer Wynanda Coetzee said they were preparing for the next round. If Selebi is successful at the SCA, his 15 year jail sentence could be lessened or scrapped.

Coetzee said they have handed over new evidence to the police, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and have asked them to investigate with a view of introducing it at the appeal hearing.

Selebi’s bail has been extended.

England forward Wayne Rooney will play against Switzerland in Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier after confirming he wants to take the field despite allegations about his private life, coach Fabio Capello said Monday.

Capello told reporters Rooney, who was involved in each of England goals in their 4-0 win over Bulgaria Friday, had looked sharp in practice.

"Yes, he will play," he said. "He was really, really good on the pitch and I hope Rooney’s performance tomorrow will be the same I saw at Wembley.

"During the training, he was really good and I spoke to him and he’s ready to play. It’s really important for me to know that the players want to play."

The Italian added: "We are focussed on the game and not the private life of the players. We are here to play this game.

"I think for us, for the team, it’s really important, the performance on the pitch. I’m a manager, they are the players, it’s better to separate the different moments."

The allegations over Rooney’s private life were published by two Sunday tabloid newspapers.

"It’s not only in England, in other countries the same thing always happens. France, Germany, Italy and Spain," Capello added.

Fifteen-year-old Emma Pringle who fractured her spine in a diving accident was due to undergo surgery on Tuesday, at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg.

On Monday, Pringle’s cousin told Talk Radio 702 that she fractured her spine while diving into the swimming pool at her Edenglen home last week but unfortunately still had not been operated on.

The Defence Ministry heard the appeal and sent a specialist to assess her condition on Monday.

Everyone involved said the public servants strike was not to blame for the delay in her medical care but that they were waiting for a top surgeon to return from Port Elizabeth.

Pringle’s mother Heather said her daughter’s condition was very severe.

“At this stage they have told us she is paraplegic. She has slight movement in her arms, no movement in her hands and no movement from her waist,” said Heather.

Labour unions on Monday assured South Africans that public services would resume on Tuesday.

 

The public servants strike was suspended for 21 days while negotiations with government continued. Over a million civil servants who had been on strike for the past 20 days were expected to return to work from Tuesday.

 

State hospitals had been operating on skeleton staff and many schools were closed for the duration of the strike.

 

The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union’s (Sadtu) President Thobile Ntola said things were expected to get back on track.

 

“The hope is now expressed that workers will be able to return to their work stations and that service delivery will resume,” said Ntola.

 

Meanwhile, labour unions said negotiations would continue over the next 21 days in the hope of finally calling off the nationwide strike. 

At the same time, Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi welcomed the suspension of the nationwide strike.

 

The ministry’s Dumisani Nkwamba said they remained optimistic about reaching a settlement.

 

“The final position of the unions will soon remove the cloud of doubt and uncertainty that continues to engulf the nation. The minister has therefore called on all public servants to return to work,” said Nkwamba. 

 

PUBLIC SERVICE UNIONS SUPPORT MOTOR INDUSTRY STRIKE

 

Public service unions on Monday pledged their support for the motor industry strike.

 

Around 70 000 workers at petrol stations, workshops, production houses and dealerships are demanding a 15 percent wage increase and several other conditions.

 

Ntola said they support this mass action.

 

“We pledge our support and we must say that if this country is not realising the power of workers there will come a time that we are going to show support for all those who are striking against arrogant employers,” said Ntola. 

U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan warned on Monday that a small Florida church’s plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks could endanger the lives of American troops.

The warnings followed an angry protest on Monday by several hundred people in the Afghan capital, Kabul, who chanted "Death to America" as they denounced the planned burning event by the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Centre church.

The centre, calling itself a "New Testament, Charismatic, Non-Denominational Church," says it will go ahead with the torching of the Koran on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2001 attacks against the United States. Gainesville authorities have said that will contravene fire safety rules.

Two top U.S. commanders in Afghanistan said the proposed burning of the Muslim holy book risked undermining U.S. President Barack Obama’s efforts to reach out to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. They said it could also trigger retaliation against U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," General David Petraeus, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement to U.S. media organizations.

"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world, we are engaged with the Islamic community," he added.

Lieutenant-General William Caldwell, commander of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, told CNN the news of the planned Koran burning by the little-known Florida church was already provoking popular anger in Afghanistan.

"It’s their Holy Book, so when somebody says that they’re going to destroy that and cause a desecration to something that’s very sacred to them, it’s already stirred up a lot of discussion and concern amongst the people," he said.

"We very much feel that this could jeopardize the safety of our men and women that are serving over here," Caldwell added.

In Kabul, the demonstrators, mostly students from religious schools who gathered outside Kabul’s Milad ul-Nabi mosque, said they would continue their protests.

"We call on America to stop desecrating our Holy Koran," student Wahidullah Nori told Reuters.

The dispute came at a time of already heated debate in the United States over a proposal to build a cultural centre and mosque two blocks away from the site in New York of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Opponents of the building plan say it is insensitive to families of the victims of the September 11 attacks by al Qaeda.

U.S. GOVERNMENT SLAMS ’OFFENSIVE INITIATIVE’

U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan soon after those attacks for harbouring al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

Demonstrations and riots triggered by reported desecration of the Koran are not infrequent in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries. The most violent protests came after cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper in 2006.

In comments broadcast by CNN, Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Centre, said it would be "tragic" if anybody’s life was lost as a result of the planned Koran burning.

But he added, "Still, I must say that we feel that we must sooner or later stand up to Islam, and if we don’t, it’s not going to go away."

The church’s website says it seeks to "expose Islam" as a "violent and oppressive religion." It displays a sign reading "Islam of the Devil."

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said the "United States government in no way condones such acts of disrespect against the religion of Islam, and is deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups".

"Americans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds reject this offensive initiative by this small group in Florida, a great number of American voices are protesting the hurtful statements made by this organisation," it said in a statement.

Last January, Afghan troops shot and killed eight demonstrators and wounded 13 in southern Helmand province in a riot triggered by a report that foreign troops had desecrated the Koran during a raid. A spokesman for NATO forces denied the report.

A defiant Paul Kagame said on Monday Africa does not need lessons from the wider world.

He was speaking at his inauguration as president after a landslide election victory in August.

Kagame’s swearing-in at Kigale Main Stadium on Monday has been eclipsed by Rwanda’s row with the United Nations (UN).

He was accused of holding a report accusing his soldiers of perpetrating a genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the 1994 slaughter of Tutsis in Rwanda.

Speaking to a packed stadium, Kagame accused the western powers of criticisng the good thing Rwandans do and trying to hold Rwandans responsible for western misdeeds.

He has told the audience – including a dozen neighbouring heads of state with DRC President Joseph Kabila among them – Africans can forge their own destiny by achieving economic development, food security, building infrastructure and securing investment and do not need lessons from the west.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)

With just three days to go until the start of the Champions League Twenty20, the competing teams are hard at work.

The Mumbai Indians, runners up in the 2010 Indian Premier League, will be looking at their star power Captain Sachin Tendulkar  to deliver the team’s first Champions League title.

Tendulkar believes that home advantage is not as important as it used to be because of the amount of international cricket being played all around the world nowadays.

“It all depends on how we perform on the given day,” he said.

The little maestro said his team mates have had no problems getting back into their old roles in the team.

“We are physical separated but we are always together. We are looking forward to the tournament. As far as gelling together goes, it shouldn’t be a problem. The players all understand each other very well,” he said.

Kieron Pollard, the big hitting West Indian is very excited for the tournament to get underway.

“I’m obviously excited. It’s my first time in South Africa. Getting an opportunity to play here is an experience for me and I’ll take it in stride. I’ll try my best with the Mumbai Indians, in whatever position I’m placed,” he said.

They open the tournament on Friday against the Highveld Lions.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)

Some municipal officials who attended a housing development training session at the University of Cape Town on Monday said finding suitable land often hinders delivery.

Seventy employees from more than twenty municipalities across the Western Cape have been receiving a skills refresher.

Provincial authorities said they cannot afford to spend billions on sub-standard housing.

The Prince Albert municipality’s Ashley America said officials in their area face specific challenges.

“The nature of the Karoo region – it’s very difficult and expensive to install services when doing a housing project because normally those costs are tremendously high and it cuts your budget down which means at the end of the day you are only allowed to build less houses.”

The Human Settlements department’s Rika van Rensburg said, “The whole idea of this programme is to build capacity and enhance our skills."

She said from identifying a site there are questions that need to be asked like, "is this site well-located (and) what are all the planning procedures that we need to follow?”

Last year Zimbabwe officially adopted the US dollar as its national currency. However, the vice president said on Monday the nation should consider adopting the Chinese Yuan.

Joyce Mujuru said the move makes sense because of Zimbabwe’s "Look East" policy.

 

Mujuru said China is now Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner.

 

The Asian giant absorbs most of Zimbabwe’s mineral and agricultural produce.

 

She said adopting the Chinese Yuan would be a logical step and could help solve some of the country’s liquidity constraints.

 

Top Zanu-PF officials have welcomed the suggestion but economists are not so sure.

 

However, economic consultant John Robertson told Eyewitness News the idea was not workable.

 

He said Zimbabwean retailers are already supposed to accept the Euro and the British Pound but those two currencies have never caught on.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)

The rape case against a Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament has been postponed yet again.

The party’s Deputy Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Masizole Mnqasela, appeared in the Wynberg Magistrates Court on Monday.

He was arrested after he allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl at his Pelican Park home in June this year.

The DA’s James Selfe said the matter is expected to be hear later this month.
 
“He appeared very briefly in court, the matter was postponed to the regional court on the 16th of September, at which point it is likely that a trial date will be set, probably early next year,” Selfe said.

The Democratic Alliance said on Monday efforts were underway to reunite around 20 children from the Central Methodist Church with their parents or next of kin.

Allegations of sexual abuse surfaced at the centre last year which led to church head Reverend Paul Verryn being suspended.

All unaccompanied minors have since been moved from the church to a youth centre in Soweto.

The information was released in a report by the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development.

The DA’s Jack Bloom said, “There are 17 children that they are placing with relatives and I think something is being done to improve conditions there. Hopefully when the new building is opened we’ll be left with only about 500 in the church, which is still a problem, but it’s more manageable.”

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)

The Department of Education said on Monday only about 35 percent of all schools in Gauteng have started writing preliminary exams.

The provincial department postponed matric preliminary exams for two weeks due to the public servants’ strike.

Thousands of pupils across the country have not been to class due to teachers taking part in the mass action.

However, some schools started exams on Friday.

The department’s Charles Phahlane said they are still trying to work out a "catch up" plan for the majority of schools.

“At the time we made the announcement that we were postponing examinations for two weeks, five percent of schools were not ready. We also felt that the conditions on the ground were not conducive to the writing of exams,” he said.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)

The spot-fixing scandal which has marred Pakistan’s tour of England has tarnished cricket’s image and tough decisions need to be made if necessary, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said in an interview.

"Match-fixing or spot-fixing brings disrepute to the game," Dhoni told NDTV news channel, reacting to the controversy that caused the International Cricket Council (ICC) to provisionally suspend three Pakistan players following an investigation into a newspaper report they had manipulated incidents in the fourth test.

"It does not restrict only to the people who are doing it or the side they belong to. I think people start associating it with the whole fraternity which means all the cricketers," Dhoni said in the interview to be aired later on Monday.

Pakistan test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were suspended last week following the allegations in Britain’s News of the World newspaper.

Asked if he was advocating strong punishment if any players are found guilty, Dhoni said: "Definitely, harsh decisions need to be taken."

The News of the World said on Sunday that a fourth unidentified Pakistan player was being investigated and published quotes from batsman Yasir Hameed saying team mates were fixing matches.

Hameed issued a statement saying he had been duped into making the allegations by a reporter masquerading as an agent.

"At times what happens, if there is a game which is a very low scoring game, people often say it may be a fixed game," Dhoni added.

"When you work so hard on a field, that’s one thing you don’t really want. You don’t want somebody to comment that the match was fixed...

"You work so hard for it. Every day you go to the gym or to a field, the net sessions, the travelling, the amount of pressure that you have to go through and after that you achieve something that is remarkable and people come up with...those kinds of words. It can be really disheartening."

Sport personalities have landed in hot water recently after making blunders on social networking site, Twitter.

England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was one of them. He blasted selectors for dropping him for the T20 team before the news was made official.

However Justin Spratt from Quirk - an internet marketing company - believes it’s critical that Twitter is used as a platform for sports stars to make themselves more accessible.

But Spratt warned although using Twitter has many advantages, some people don’t know how to use it.

“It’s a critical tool, but it’s a very difficult balancing act and one could argue that some of them need training or at least some kind of a technical understanding of the ramifications,” he said.

Pietersen’s reportedly been fined an undisclosed amount by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The Competition Commission said on Monday it has uncovered price-fixing in the tyre manufacturing industry.

Appolo, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear, as well as the South African Tyre Manufacturers’ Conference have been implicated.

It was found that the companies colluded to fix prices between 1999 and 2007.

Bridgestone has since applied for leniency.

The commission’s Ketumetse Letebele said the companies could face a massive fine.

“The commission has asked the tribunal to impose an administrative penalty of 10 percent of total turnover of 2008,” she said.

Workers in the tyre manufacturing industry are still on strike over wages.

They are demanding a 15 percent wage hike and several other conditions.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)