Reasons behind Boesak\'s pardon remain secret, and other brief reports ...

* New charges have been brought against the head of Mpumalanga\'s serious and violent crime unit, superintendent Botsotso Moukangwe. Shortly after being released on R2 000 bail during a special hearing yesterday afternoon for a string of charges, he was arrested for a different matter. This time, he and five members of his unit are charged with torturing and stealing R230 000 from two suspected bank robbers. – News24 * The European Union yesterday sued Belgium, Greece, Finland and Italy for not taking steps to introduce a system enabling companies to trade greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto protocol. The states now face legal action in the European Court of Justice. – Business Day * Controversy continued in Spain yesterday over government plans to legalise same-sex marriages, with the General Council of Judicial Power, the country’s highest judicial organ, approving a report describing homosexual marriage as unconstitutional. – The Mercury * The Eastern Cape Auditor-General has released a damning report revealing widespread corruption and maladministration in low-cost housing projects in the Nelson Mandela (Port Elizabeth) metro. The report recommends disciplinary action against high-ranking metro councillors. – The Herald * A Durban Magistrate has ordered income tax consultant Mark Peter Noke (40) to pay his 78-year-old neighbour, whom he assaulted because his dogs had been barking, R4 000 in compensation. Noke was previously convicted of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. – The Mercury