No image available
/ 31 October 2007
The death toll from Tropical Storm Noel’s rampage through the Caribbean rose to at least 54 on Wednesday as the devastating weather system swirled off Cuba and targeted the Bahamas. In the Dominican Republic alone, the storm killed 41 people, with another 38 reported missing, according to the National Emergencies Centre.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
Former spy boss Billy Masetlha was on Wednesday accused of not being consistent in testifying in the Hatfield Community Court. Prosecutor Matric Luphondo said Masetlha gave different versions of when a report requested by Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani was compiled. Masetlha is charged with contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
Murder accused Fred van der Vyver’s alibi had been proved beyond reasonable doubt and he should be found not guilty, his advocate told the Cape High Court on Wednesday. Van der Vyver (25) is accused of killing his student girlfriend Inge Lotz with a hammer at her Stellenbosch flat on the afternoon of March 16 2005.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
His accomplices ”forced” him to have sex with a dead woman, Ncamile Mantashe (28) told the Grahamstown High Court on Wednesday. Mantashe was testifying against Caswell Nkanunu (26) and Sibongile Ncapayi (36), who stand accused of raping, murdering and robbing a 47-year-old woman in her home in December 2004.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk still faces a court challenge from the abalone industry even though he backed down on Wednesday from a harvesting ban. The ban, prompted by rapidly declining stocks, was to have come into effect on Thursday. It would have halted all commercial harvesting of the threatened shellfish from the wild.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
A London luxury store is launching something slightly different for Halloween — a psychic school teaching customers how to tap into their spiritual powers. Passers-by can pop into Selfridges on the capital’s busy Oxford Street to attend classes ranging from ”Third Eye and Higher Self” to workshops on how to use crystals.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
Oil prices hit fresh record highs on Wednesday, with New York crude at $94 per barrel after news that United States crude inventories had slumped last week, traders said. "The market is clearly reacting to the larger-than-expected drop in crude oil inventories," said Citigroup analyst Tim Evans. Over the course of Wednesday, prices rocketed by as much as $4 to $5.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
Delegates from dozens of nations gathered in India on Wednesday to open a World Toilet Summit aimed at finding low-cost methods to give billions of people access to sanitation. The four-day meeting and seventh such summit brought together 170 experts from more than 40 countries to swap ideas on improving basic sanitation.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
A disagreement broke out on Wednesday over whether University of Johannesburg (UJ) students would honour a memorandum of agreement on fee increases. While the independent mediator called in to resolve the dispute claimed an agreement ending the impasse was in place, the Student Representative Council said no accord had yet been reached.
No image available
/ 31 October 2007
California officials have blamed a wildfire that consumed more than 15 300ha and destroyed 21 homes last week on a boy playing with matches, and said they will ask a prosecutor to consider the case. The boy, whose name and age were not released, admitted to sparking the fire on October 21, police said.