The High Court in Zimbabwe was to rule on Monday on whether to order the immediate release of results of a March 29 presidential election in a judgement that could plunge the country into a general strike. All eyes will be on Justice Tendai Uchena as he decides whether to agree to an opposition request to immediately declare the result.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blasted rival Barack Obama during a debate on Sunday, accusing him of being ”elitist” and ”patronising”. Clinton again seized on a controversy sparked off by Obama’s comments about working-class voters. Obama, she said, was ”elitist, out of touch, and frankly patronising”.
Kenya’s most feared criminal gang paralysed transport on Monday, posing an early challenge to a power-sharing Cabinet formed to end post-election deadlock. Up to seven people were killed when the Mungiki gang shut down roads in the capital, Nairobi, and the Rift Valley town of Naivasha in a gesture of anger after the beheading of its leader’s wife.
Skielik murder accused Johan Nel was declared mentally fit to stand trial in the Swartruggens Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The case was postponed to July 14. Nel (18), who was charged with four counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, was referred for psychiatric observation during his last appearance in February.
A witness on Monday told the Cape High court that murder accused Najwa Petersen asked him to find someone to carry out a ”hit”. Fahiem Hendricks, who is in witness protection, was testifying in the trial of Petersen and three alleged hit men who are charged with the murder of her entertainer husband, Taliep.
Olympic swimmer Roland Schoeman lost more than R40 000 in a travel-agency scam, Jacaranda radio said on Monday. Jacarandafm.com’s Buzz said Roland’s mother, Geraldine Schoeman, had lost the money after she booked airline tickets through an agency that turned out to be fraudulent.
World markets were dampened by negative earnings reports from the United States on Monday, causing the JSE to pull back sharply. By midday, the JSE’s broader all-share index had fallen 1,48%. The banking index pulled back 2,51% and financials retreated 1,41%.
A British schoolteacher, her two female Kenyan colleagues and a Somali headmaster were killed in an overnight attack in central Somalia blamed on Islamist insurgents, witnesses said on Monday. The four were killed when suspected rebels attacked and briefly took control of Beledweyne, the capital of Somalia’s Hiraan region.
Kenyan Martin Lel retained his London Marathon title in a fantastic men’s race on Sunday when the first three broke the course record and the first six finishers recorded personal bests. In the women’s race, German Irina Mikitenko won her first major marathon title on only her second outing over the distance.
Oil prices eased from recent highs in Asian trade on Monday after international finance ministers warned that near-term global economic prospects had weakened. In afternoon trade, New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, fell by 29 cents to ,85 per barrel.