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/ 31 January 2008
A weaker rand drove mining shares higher on the JSE by midday on Thursday, lifting the bourse 0,88% into the black. By noon, the platinum-mining index was 2,74% higher, while the gold-mining index advanced 2,36% and resources were up 2,04%. Industrials edged up 0,16%, but financials and banks were off 0,66% and 1,24% respectively.
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/ 31 January 2008
Dozens of police officers and members of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union converged at a Durban school on Thursday, 48 hours after a former pupil went into the school and threatened teachers and pupils with a gun. The matter was only reported to police on Wednesday afternoon.
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/ 31 January 2008
Dozens more people in Japan on Thursday said they fell sick after eating Chinese-made food, a day after Japanese food companies recalled pesticide-contaminated dumplings from China that made 10 people sick. The food scare has triggered a nationwide probe into possible additional cases of food poisoning.
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/ 31 January 2008
A game of soccer between cars. A troupe of cars performing ballet. Unbelievable as it may sound, these were some of the events that thrilled audiences at last year’s MPH car show. Now, MPH 2008 ”Live Motoring Theatre” has arrived in South Africa for a second year.
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/ 31 January 2008
The labour minister has welcomed the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute two Sasol employees in connection with an explosion in 2004 in which ten people were killed. ”We are happy that our recommendations for prosecution have resulted in someone having to account for the flouting of … laws,” said Membathisi Mdladlana on Thursday.
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/ 31 January 2008
Several Durban rivers are polluted with health-threatening levels of E. coli bacteria, sometimes at levels hundreds of times over the recommended safety limits for drinking, washing, swimming or canoeing, the Mercury reported on Thursday. The eThekwini municipality has been singled out as one of the ”most significant” polluters.
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/ 31 January 2008
Piotr Kucy (38) from the city of Polkowice in south-west Poland was wrongly identified by authorities last August as a drowned man, only to show up a few days after his own funeral. Despite pointing out the fact that he was alive to government officials, Kucy still remains dead in official records, stopping him from working and paying social insurance.
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/ 31 January 2008
A suicide bomber targeted an Afghan army bus in the centre of Kabul on Thursday, causing numerous casualties, officials said. One civilian was killed and four people were wounded, including an army officer, they said. A purported Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said one of the militant group’s suicide bombers was responsible for the blast.
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/ 31 January 2008
The head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Archbishop Christodoulos, who died on January 28 aged 69 after a seven-month battle with liver cancer, was a charismatic orator who captivated and divided Greek society with his strong views on nationalism and church-state relations.
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/ 31 January 2008
Margaret Truman Daniel, the only child of former United States president Harry S Truman who was known for her mystery novels and singing career, died on January 29 after a brief illness. Truman was in college when her father, who was serving as vice-president, became the president following the death of Franklin D Roosevelt in 1945.