Nasa engineers on Monday pored over new imagery of the space shuttle Endeavour‘s underbelly to decide if its damaged heat shield needed repair, as astronauts prepared for the mission’s second spacewalk. The three-dimensional images of a gouge in the shield were taken on Sunday by a camera, and measured by a laser.
About 3 500 mine workers downed tools on Monday over low salaries, trade union Solidarity said. Spokesperson Reint Dykema said Solidarity members were striking at coal mines around the country over an inadequate pay offer, particularly for artisans.
A foreign hostage has died of illness in the oil-producing Niger Delta in southern Nigeria, a source in the Bayelsa state government said on Sunday. The source had no details on the illness, the circumstances of the hostage’s death or his nationality, but said the body was at a hospital morgue in Yenagoa.
Champions Manchester United were held to a 0-0 home draw by 10-man Reading and lost England striker Wayne Rooney to a hairline fracture of his left foot in a wretched start to their title defence on Sunday. Chelsea opened their new Premier League season with a record-breaking 3-2 home win over Birmingham City while Arsenal snatched a late 2-1 victory at home to Fulham.
An Australian farmer who was kidnapped and beaten in Mali after walking into an internet bride scam has pleaded with people to be careful looking for online love. South Australian farmer Des Gregor (56) returned to Australia on Sunday night after being held hostage by machete-armed bandits in Africa for 12 days.
Vosloorus police said on Monday they knew nothing about a man who claimed his group of disgruntled unemployed people were behind a spate of ATM bombings. The Sowetan newspaper reported on Monday that Plaatjie Mashego, said to be a former Umkhonto weSizwe operative, had claimed responsibility for recent ATM blasts across the country.
Ernie Els was in upbeat mood after finishing third at the United States PGA Championship on Sunday, sensing he is close to giving world number one Tiger Woods a run for his money. The 37-year-old South African, six strokes behind leader Woods at the start of the final round, signed off with a four-under-par 66 in steamy conditions at Southern Hills Country Club.
Two speeding motorists caught with laser jammers in their cars have been charged with exceeding the speed limit and defeating the ends of justice, Johannesburg metro police said on Sunday. The two were among 37 motorists arrested for speeding in the city over the weekend.
A motorist was slightly injured when her car was stoned, then overturned by a rioting mob just off the R511, in Diepsloot, on Sunday night, said Netcare 911. She was taken to hospital with a laceration to her head, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe.
South Africa has blamed Britain for the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe by accusing the United Kingdom of leading a campaign to ”strangle” the beleaguered African state’s economy and saying it has a ”death wish” against a negotiated settlement that might leave Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF in power.