SOUTH AFRICA: Former police chief Jackie Selebi has to abide by a long list of conditions while in ‘home’ detention, an official said today. Chief deputy commissioner for incarceration and corrections James Smalberger said from Monday to Friday, Selebi has two hours’ free time a day, and this would go up to six hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Selebi could use this time to go out and buy a newspaper, go to church, or meet a friend for coffee. Selebi had to stay in his current residence at Waterkloof; Should he want to change residence, he needed prior approval from correctional services. He was not allowed to go to the Pretoria magisterial district without permission, and may not use drugs or abuse alcohol.

2 (BRUSSELS) – In a policy U-turn, the European Union promised today to lift most of the sanctions slapped against Zimbabwe a decade ago if the country holds a ‘credible’ vote on a new constitution.

The decision was immediately rejected by President Robert Mugabe’s party as ‘nonsense’ as British Foreign Secretary William Hague denied that the veteran Zimbabwean leader would be among those removed from an EU blacklist.

The suspension of the 2002 sanctions in order to promote reform in the southern African nation was proposed by Britain, much along the lines of the lifting of sanctions earlier this year to reward reformers in Myanmar.

Welcoming recent ‘constructive dialogue’ and ‘progress’ between the nation’s political foes — Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai — EU foreign ministers also agreed to resume direct aid to Zimbabwe’s government after a 10-year suspension.

A statement from the 27 EU ministers said sanctions would be lifted against most of the 112 Zimbabweans still under the decade-old EU asset freeze and travel ban.

3 (CAIRO) – Egyptian and Palestinian officials say Egypt is allowing freer entry for Palestinians into the country, in an unprecedented move that eases long held travel restrictions particularly on Gazans but caused confusion among security agencies here.

Airport officials said seven Gazans were allowed into Egypt today without the usual restrictions under which transiting Gazans under 40 years old were ‘deported’ – taken in security escorts from the airport directly to Gaza, often after long detentions at the airport.

Egypt’s ambassador to the West Bank Yasser Othman said transiting Palestinians can enter Egypt for 72 hours to arrange their own travel. A Palestinian official in Cairo said more easing of restrictions are being negotiated. The decision, however, took some Egyptian security by surprise, as a formal announcement was not yet made.

4 (TOKYO) – A government-appointed inquiry into Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis raised doubts today about whether other atomic plants were prepared for massive disasters despite new safety rules, and delivered a damning assessment of the regulators and the station’s operator.

The report, the second this month about the disaster, could be seized upon by Japan’s increasingly vociferous anti-nuclear movement after the restart of two reactors, and as the government readies a new energy policy due out next month.

The panel suggested post-Fukushima safety steps taken at other nuclear plants may not be enough to cope with a big, complex catastrophe caused by both human error and natural causes in a ‘disaster-prone nation’ like Japan, which suffers from earthquakes, tsunami, floods and volcanoes.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and regulators failed to plan for a massive natural disaster, the panel said, blaming them for being lulled by the same ‘safety myth’ blasted by a parliament-appointed team of experts earlier this month.

But the inquiry stopped short of accusing the regulators and Tepco of ‘collusion’, a charge included in a strongly-worded report by a parliamentary panel earlier in July.

5 (BEIJING) – Beijing residents expressed fury today after the worst rains to hit the Chinese capital in more than 60 years left at least 37 people dead, with at least another seven still missing.

Many said lives could have been saved and some of the worst devastation avoided if a better warning system had been in place, and criticised the city’s antiquated water infrastructure.

By this morning, there were nearly nine million comments on the Sina Weibo microblog alone. In the worst-hit district of Fangshan, on the mountainous southwestern outskirts of China’s sprawling capital, residents described how roads flooded in minutes, submerging vehicles and destroying houses.

Fangshan farmer Wang Ping, 56, was still looking for his 30-year-old son on a lake shore after finding his smashed up car, and complained that the government was doing nothing to help.
(edited)HERE IS TODAY’S BULLETIN FOR 15H00
MONDAY, 23 JULY 2012
NAMIBIA PRESS AGENCY

1 (SOUTH AFRICA) – Former police chief Jackie Selebi has to abide by a long list of conditions while in ‘home’ detention, an official said today. Chief deputy commissioner for incarceration and corrections James Smalberger said from Monday to Friday, Selebi has two hours’ free time a day, and this would go up to six hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Selebi could use this time to go out and buy a newspaper, go to church, or meet a friend for coffee. Selebi had to stay in his current residence at Waterkloof; Should he want to change residence, he needed prior approval from correctional services. He was not allowed to go to the Pretoria magisterial district without permission, and may not use drugs or abuse alcohol.

2 (BRUSSELS) – In a policy U-turn, the European Union promised today to lift most of the sanctions slapped against Zimbabwe a decade ago if the country holds a ‘credible’ vote on a new constitution.

The decision was immediately rejected by President Robert Mugabe’s party as ‘nonsense’ as British Foreign Secretary William Hague denied that the veteran Zimbabwean leader would be among those removed from an EU blacklist.

The suspension of the 2002 sanctions in order to promote reform in the southern African nation was proposed by Britain, much along the lines of the lifting of sanctions earlier this year to reward reformers in Myanmar.

Welcoming recent ‘constructive dialogue’ and ‘progress’ between the nation’s political foes — Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai — EU foreign ministers also agreed to resume direct aid to Zimbabwe’s government after a 10-year suspension.

A statement from the 27 EU ministers said sanctions would be lifted against most of the 112 Zimbabweans still under the decade-old EU asset freeze and travel ban.

3 (CAIRO) – Egyptian and Palestinian officials say Egypt is allowing freer entry for Palestinians into the country, in an unprecedented move that eases long held travel restrictions particularly on Gazans but caused confusion among security agencies here.

Airport officials said seven Gazans were allowed into Egypt today without the usual restrictions under which transiting Gazans under 40 years old were ‘deported’ – taken in security escorts from the airport directly to Gaza, often after long detentions at the airport.

Egypt’s ambassador to the West Bank Yasser Othman said transiting Palestinians can enter Egypt for 72 hours to arrange their own travel. A Palestinian official in Cairo said more easing of restrictions are being negotiated. The decision, however, took some Egyptian security by surprise, as a formal announcement was not yet made.

4 (TOKYO) – A government-appointed inquiry into Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis raised doubts today about whether other atomic plants were prepared for massive disasters despite new safety rules, and delivered a damning assessment of the regulators and the station’s operator.

The report, the second this month about the disaster, could be seized upon by Japan’s increasingly vociferous anti-nuclear movement after the restart of two reactors, and as the government readies a new energy policy due out next month.

The panel suggested post-Fukushima safety steps taken at other nuclear plants may not be enough to cope with a big, complex catastrophe caused by both human error and natural causes in a ‘disaster-prone nation’ like Japan, which suffers from earthquakes, tsunami, floods and volcanoes.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and regulators failed to plan for a massive natural disaster, the panel said, blaming them for being lulled by the same ‘safety myth’ blasted by a parliament-appointed team of experts earlier this month.

But the inquiry stopped short of accusing the regulators and Tepco of ‘collusion’, a charge included in a strongly-worded report by a parliamentary panel earlier in July.

5 (BEIJING) – Beijing residents expressed fury today after the worst rains to hit the Chinese capital in more than 60 years left at least 37 people dead, with at least another seven still missing.

Many said lives could have been saved and some of the worst devastation avoided if a better warning system had been in place, and criticised the city’s antiquated water infrastructure.

By this morning, there were nearly nine million comments on the Sina Weibo microblog alone.

In the worst-hit district of Fangshan, on the mountainous southwestern outskirts of China’s sprawling capital, residents described how roads flooded in minutes, submerging vehicles and destroying houses.

Fangshan farmer Wang Ping, 56, was still looking for his 30-year-old son on a lake shore after finding his smashed up car, and complained that the government was doing nothing to help.