South Africa’s crime statistics will be released sometime in June, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Thursday. At a press conference on the work of government’s justice, crime-prevention and security cluster, Nqakula said the statistics and the police annual report will be released together.
Private security guards will not be ”taken over” by police but the relationship between the state and the private-industry security apparatus is set to become much closer, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Thursday. Addressing a press conference, Nqakula said various areas of cooperation have already been identified.
Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson has confirmed he is considering standing for the party’s parliamentary caucus leadership. If elected, Gibson will be leader of the official opposition in Parliament. On Monday, Gibson said he would make a decision if he was convinced the party ”wants me”.
Valencia will stage a Formula One (F1) race on a street circuit for seven years, starting in 2008, if the right-wing Popular Party wins this month’s regional and local elections. Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday that Spain’s eastern port city will hold F1 races, but no contract will be signed until after the May 27 elections.
Cameroon’s investigation into what caused a Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 to nose-dive into a swamp seconds after take-off will initially focus on the pilot’s decision to leave despite predictions a thunderstorm would last up to an hour more, an official familiar with the probe said on Thursday.
The last time Apple chief executive Steve Jobs took on major recording companies, he refused to budge on his 99-cent price for a song on iTunes. As a new round of talks ramp up this month, however, Jobs has opened the door to higher prices — as long as music companies let Apple sell their songs without technology designed to stop unauthorised copying.
Nobel Peace Prize-winner Jose Ramos-Horta pledged to unite troubled East Timor on Thursday after the former resistance leader clinched the election as President of one of the world’s poorest nations. Ramos-Horta offered hope to a nervous electorate after a year of bloodshed and unrest that looked to tear the tiny country apart.
Yahoo! will close its online auction service for North America next month, signalling the internet powerhouse’s intention to focus on more profitable endeavours as it tries to snap out of a financial malaise. The Sunnyvale-based company’s auctions in the United States and Canada will end on June 16.
The heads of argument and record of proceedings in the Constitutional Court’s deliberations on the dismissal of former National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha will be open to the public. Masetlha is asking the Constitutional Court to overturn a Pretoria High Court ruling upholding his dismissal.
Microsoft has signed deals with Volvo and whisky maker Chivas Brothers to support two new web-only video series from Reveille, the production company behind TV shows The Office and Ugly Betty. The two new shows will arrive on Microsoft’s MSN website in the next six months.