The world’s glaciers are melting faster than at any time since records began, threatening catastrophe for hundreds of millions of people and their eco-systems. The details are revealed in the latest report from the World Glacier Monitoring Service and will add to growing alarm about the rise in sea levels and increased instances of flooding, avalanches and drought.
A violent tornado blasting winds up to 200km/h wreaked havoc through downtown Atlanta, Georgia, toppling trees on to homes, blowing windows out of high-rises and injuring 30 people, city officials said Saturday. A second tornado in north-west Georgia killed two people and injured others on Saturday, officials said.
The Coastal Sharks maintained their impressive start to this year’s Super 14 competition with a hard-fought 16-8 win over the Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday. With five victories out of five, the men from Durban moved back into second spot on the southern-hemisphere rugby championship points table.
The unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders showed their depth of quality when they made sweeping changes to the side but still beat the Central Cheetahs 55-7 in Super 14 rugby in Christchurch on Saturday. In a nine-try rampage the Crusaders took maximum points to remain firmly embedded at the top of the table.
Gale-force winds destroyed informal housing, leaving hundreds destitute in Cape Town on Saturday, said disaster management officials. Worst affected were Delft residents living in tents on the N2 Gateway project after being evicted, said spokesperson Wilfred Solomons.
Under-fire Queensland Reds bounded out of the Super 14 rugby doldrums with a 40-8 demolition of fading champions the Northern Bulls of South Africa in Brisbane on Saturday. The Reds cashed in with five tries for their first bonus-point victory in the southern-hemisphere competition in four years.
Sierra Leone’s military chiefs are working on means to downsize from its current 10 000 soldiers to 8 500, Defence Minister Palo Conteh said on Friday, according to a state radio report. ”We cannot allow a large army …We have to downsize to a lean army that can react quickly to a given situation,” he said.
Animal rights activists declared themselves human shields on Saturday and vowed to prevent authorities from killing kangaroos that have overrun a Canberra military base. Last week, the Australian government enraged animal lovers by approving the killing of about 400 kangaroos at risk of death from starvation.
The pressure of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics for world indoor long-jump champion Khotso Mokoena is over after he carded a leap of 8,24m with his first dash at the board on the first day of the South African Track and Field Championships at Coetzenburg on Friday.
The Free State Cheetahs emphasised that they are top contenders to lift the Vodacom Cup title this year with a solid 34-20 win over the Pumas in Witbank on Friday night. In other matches, the Wildebeest beat the Griffons 33-7 in Welkom and a brace of tries by Wylie Human sealed another victory for Western Province.