South Africa has made available three helicopters to help transport provisions and to monitor refugee centres accommodating flood victims in the Zambezi Valley, Vista News reported on Monday. Radio Mozambique said the helicopters were expected to arrive in Caia district, more than 1Â 000km north of Maputo, on Tuesday.
Authorities will assess the damage inflicted by freak weather that hit the Klerksdorp area at the weekend and provide water to affected residents. About 1 900 people have registered damage to their homes due to Sunday’s storm, which killed one person and injured about 300 others. The injured were being treated in local hospitals.
Palestinian prime minister-designate Ismail Haniya said on Monday that he expects to unveil a new government formed by his Hamas faction and the moderate Fatah party by the end of next week. Speaking to his outgoing Hamas-led Cabinet, Haniya said he would continue talks with Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday and Tuesday.
Ghanaians hoisted their Black Star flag across the country on Monday for the country’s 50th birthday party and authorities pledged a two-week respite from power blackouts that have plagued them for months. Tuesday’s jubilee marks half a century since Ghana became the first black African country south of the Sahara to gain independence from colonial rule.
The public gallery of court number one at the Cape High Court was on Monday packed to capacity for the start of the trial of two men charged with the murder in April last year of actor Brett Goldin and fashion designer Richard Bloom. On the night of April 16 2006 Goldin and Bloom were shot dead execution style, each with a single gun shot to the back of their head.
YouTube, the video social-networking website owned by Google, is building a vast network of content providers, a company spokesperson said. YouTube has concluded "more than 1 000 partnerships" with content providers both big and small, YouTube spokesperson David Song said late on Friday.
Two girls, aged 14 and four, have been rescued after being held in a tiny underground burrow by an alleged serial rapist, South African police said on Monday. A 31-year-old man arrested near the coastal town of Hermanus in the Western Cape province on Sunday claimed the younger girl was his daughter, police said on Monday.
About 2 000 workers employed by Blue Ribbon bakery, mostly members of the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu), embarked on a national strike on Monday, the union said. ”We are unhappy about the company’s refusal to accede to our demand of a centralised bargaining forum …,” Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola said.
The state filed papers in the in the Durban High Court on Monday morning in its attempt to obtain documents from Mauritius relating to accusations of corruption against Jacob Zuma. The papers had already been served on Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint on Friday.
It’s not all about James Blunt. Lloyd Gedye reports on the singer-songwriter’s fight-back.