Chevron, the number-two United States oil company, has agreed to pay -million to resolve criminal and civil liabilities related to procurement of oil under the United Nations oil-for-food programme, US prosecutors said on Wednesday. Chevron will not be prosecuted and will continue to cooperate with investigators, they said.
Scientists said on Wednesday they had created the world’s first cloned embryo from a monkey, in work that could spur cloning of human cells for use in medical research. In a paper published online by the journal Nature, a United States-led team said it had created cloned embryos from rhesus macaques.
France was plunged into travel chaos for the second time in a month on Wednesday as striking railway unions staged a show of strength against the economic reforms of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Nationwide fewer than one-quarter of trains were running normally — and only 90 out 700 TGV fast trains.
A medical-aid scheme for cats and dogs has been launched, the company behind the initiative said on Wednesday. ”It’s hard enough for us as humans to wade through the multitude of options available to us from the various medical-aid offerings, so a simple one for dogs and cats is as essential for their owners,” Medipet SA said.
The Sandton branch of the African National Congress (ANC) has not drawn up or endorsed any list of desired candidates for ANC leadership positions due to be determined later this year. The branch responded on Wednesday to a City Press article published this week that alleged the party had created such a list.
Johannesburg police discovered 16kg of cocaine with a street value of R7,2-million at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday. Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo said officers came across the drugs, hidden in a knapsack, in the airport’s cargo section. The knapsack was concealed in a maize bag.
Thousands of people fled their homes along Bangladesh’s southern coast on Wednesday as volunteers with loudspeakers went from village to village warning that a severe cyclone was approaching from the Bay of Bengal. ”Where shall I go?” said a woman in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh’s main sea resort, holding her child in one hand.
The Jo’burg Open will again be hosted at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club from January 9 to 13 after a successful inaugural tournament held at the same venue last year. A total of 204 international and local players are expected to tee up in the tournament worth an overall cash prize of €1,1-million.
Former South African and current New Zealand netball shooting superstar Irene van Dyk is showing her former team some respect ahead of their World Championship quarterfinal clash set for Thursday, so she refuses to talk up the Silver Ferns’ chances.
The Equality Court on Wednesday ordered a Durban landlord with a ”whites only” policy to pay a woman R10 000 in compensation and scrap his discriminatory policy. The court declared the offending clause in the lease agreement unconstitutional and invalid.