MOSCOW: The Russian government yesterday sacked the head of the Bolshoi Theatre following a series of scandals including an horrific acid attack on its artistic director in January.
The dramatic move to fire director Anatoly Iksanov after 13 years at the helm of the fabled venue appears to be the government’s attempt to restore order in a theatre that has in recent years been plagued by internal divisions, rivalries and scandals.
“Without question, the theatre needs renewal,” Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky told a news conference.
Iksanov, 61, has been replaced by Vladimir Urin of Moscow’s Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre, the minister said, adding that he was confident that Urin “can unite the Bolshoi Theatre’s team”.
Embattled Zuma overhauls cabinet
PRETORIA: Embattled South African president Jacob Zuma reshuffled his cabinet with less than a year to go before elections yesterday, axing key allies and ousting Tokyo Sexwale, a long-time big-hitter of the ruling ANC party.
“I have decided to make changes to the national executive,” Zuma said in a terse announcement of five senior ministerial changes, which he said was aimed at taking South Africa’s transformation forward. Zuma announced that Sexwale, who defied the president by running against his deputy in a recent ANC leadership battle, would be removed as minister for human settlements.
Knox appeal to begin on Sept 30
ROME: An appeal trial over the murder of a British student in Italy is to begin on September 30 after Italy’s top court overturned the acquittal of American Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
The two were initially convicted in 2009 for the frenzied murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia in what prosecutors was a sex game gone wrong, then absolved on appeal in 2011 after nearly four years in prison. But that ruling was reversed in 2012 over “contradictions and incoherencies”, particularly over crucial DNA evidence that had been challenged by the defence.
Condition of Kerry’s wife improving
WASHINGTON: The wife of US Secretary of State John Kerry was recovering in a hospital yesterday after suffering a health scare, with doctors ruling out that she had had a stroke or heart attack. Teresa Heinz Kerry, 74, remains in fair condition at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she was admitted on Sunday after showing “seizure-like symptoms,” Kerry’s personal spokesman Glen Johnson said.
Germany arrests 3 over airport bribery
FRANKFURT: German authorities yesterday arrested three, including a former senior manager of Frankfurt airport operator Fraport, on suspicion of having accepted bribes for building permits. The Frankfurt prosecutor’s office said over 200 police raided addresses across Germany and the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, where they suspect the funds were hidden, as part of a probe into 10 people suspected of bribery.
Agencies
