Tuareg rebels attacked an army camp in north-eastern Mali where 17 rebels and 15 soldiers were killed in one of the bloodiest clashes to date in a revolt by the desert insurgents, the government said on Thursday. A Defence Ministry statement said an ”armed band” assaulted the camp at Abebara during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday in Mali’s remote north-east.
Eskom warned on Thursday that it might be forced to resume load shedding as its electricity grid was under renewed pressure. Eskom has struggled to meet demand for electricity in Africa’s biggest economy, resulting in power failures which forced key mines to halt production for five days in January.
A Bharti Airtel official on Thursday said there were no new developments in its talks with South African telecoms operator MTN Group that could create the world’s sixth-largest mobile operator. Bharti said on May 5 it was in exploratory talks with MTN, and on May 13 said it had not made any bid for the South African firm.
British Airways risks further undermining its relationship with pilots on Thursday as it starts selling tickets for its transatlantic OpenSkies airline. The Paris-to-New York service will begin flying on June 19 with the threat of crippling industrial action still hanging over its owner.
A Zimbabwean man has been jailed for two years after he sold urine to residents in a mining town, claiming it was cooking oil, a state daily reported on Thursday. The <i>Herald</i> newspaper said Piccard Mudzingwa (28) approached one of the victims at a bus terminus in the southern mining town of Zvishavane, selling bottles containing a liquid he said was cooking oil.
The death toll in India’s worst bootleg liquor tragedy in recent years rose to 180 on Thursday as 30 more victims died, police said. Labourers in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu bought the liquor, sold in plastic pouches from illegal shops and laced with chemicals, at the weekend and immediately fell sick.
African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe on Thursday said the police responded too slowly to the first xenophobic attacks in Alexandra. This came as it was reported that anti-foreigner violence had spread to North West. More than 40 people have been killed since the outbreak of xenophobic attacks on May 12.
Ernie Els admits his swing is no better than average as he tries to fine-tune his game with new coach Butch Harmon. Els, who plays in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth this week, turned to Harmon after opting to replace previous coach David Leadbetter, but the South African is still not completely happy with his revamped swing.
Peter de Villiers said on Wednesday that South African rugby players who ply their trade abroad must be made to realise that it remains a privilege to play for the Springboks. The Springbok coach was airing his views on the controversial issue of calling up overseas-based players for Springbok duty.
Characters in the current crop of Broadway musicals include a murderous barber, a lovesick mermaid and the Swedish pop band, Abba. Now a new hero is to join them: Nelson Mandela. A leading group of Broadway producers is planning a show that will put to music the story of Mandela’s 27 years in prison and his work to end apartheid.