A 2,2m high tidal wave inundated parts of Jakarta overnight as the city government and citizens tried to hold the water back with emergency embankments, a government official said on Wednesday. The height of the water was far greater than earlier predictions.
The United States pressed concerns about Chinese nuclear weapons and space plans in talks between the two powers on Wednesday that also covered North Korea, Iran and other international security hotspots. US officials again raised objections to an anti-satellite test China conducted in January 2007 by using a missile to destroy one of its own satellites.
African telecommunications operator Moov, controlled by Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat), launched the first nationwide cellphone coverage in Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday using Thuraya satellite phone technology.
The Pretoria High Court on Tuesday reserved judgement in an application by Judge Nkola John Motata to stop the state from playing five potentially incriminating video and audio recordings made at the scene of his car accident. Motata was charged with drunk driving and defeating the ends of justice after smashing his Jaguar.
China’s state media on Tuesday hailed Premier Wen Jiabao as the world’s sixth-most-popular politician on the social networking site Facebook — well ahead of United States President George Bush. Wen Jiabao’s profile was set up two days after he rushed to the scene of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province to oversee rescue efforts.
Apple is planning a solar-powered iPod, according to a report about a patent application submitted by the company. The patent, which was unearthed by the Apple fan site MacRumors.com, describes an iPod with a solar panel under the LCD screen that could be used to provide additional power.
A paralysed man using only his brain waves has been able to manipulate a virtual internet character, Japanese researchers said on Monday, calling it a world first. The 41-year-old patient used his imagination to make his character take a walk and chat to another virtual person on the popular Second Life website.
The General Council of the Bar, representing most of the country’s advocates, on Tuesday added its voice to calls for Cape Judge President John Hlophe to step down. Chairperson Jannie Eksteen said if Hlophe did not voluntarily go on leave, the minister of justice or the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) ”must see how that can be facilitated as a matter of urgency”.
Artist Alton Kelley, who created the psychedelic style of posters and other art associated with the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, has died.
Grigory Romanov, a Politburo member who had been seen as the chief rival of Mikhail Gorbachev to become Soviet leader in the mid-1980s, has died.