Ethiopia’s Ogaden rebels warned oil companies interested in the volatile but energy-rich region on Wednesday not to be lulled into a ”false sense of security” by the government, saying their forces were well armed. The Ogaden National Liberation Front said the government had lost control of Ogaden. The rebels warned oil companies to stay away.
United States forces said they killed 30 people in an air strike in Baghdad’s crowded Shi’ite slum of Sadr City on Wednesday, describing those killed as militants linked to Iran. Hospital officials put the death toll at at least 13. Hundreds of angry mourners later marched chanting through the streets of the slum after the raid on the eve of a major Shi’ite holy day.
Millions of malnourished Indian children are vulnerable to disease after South Asia’s worst floods in years, officials and aid groups said on Wednesday, calling for urgent assistance. Hundreds of United Nations Children’s Fund workers rushed to immunise and supply rehydration fluid sachets to children in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
McLaren have launched an appeal against the points penalty they were hit with after the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying controversy. McLaren were deducted 15 points due to them in the constructors’ championship and the British team have protested to the FIA via the Motor Sports Association, the governing body for the United Kingdom.
While most electricity users are being urged to switch off to save energy, Cape Town authorities are keeping street lights switched on day and night in large areas of the city. According to city public lighting manager Charles Kadalie, this is being done in a bid to combat the widespread plundering of copper.
South Africa’s business confidence inched up in July but there was no evidence that the small recovery improved producers’ mood, a survey showed on Wednesday. The South African Chamber of Business’s (Sacob) confidence index crept up to 99,6 in July from June’s 99,1, but the body said domestic economic concerns were still a concern.
Some MPs protested on Wednesday at the Bill to regulate internet gambling. The National Gambling Amendment Bill was introduced to the trade and industry portfolio committee by Fungai Sibanda, the acting director general of the Department of Trade and Industry.
President Robert Mugabe’s government has warned it will arrest white Zimbabwean farmers resisting evictions from new land targeted for black farmers, state media reported on Wednesday. Industry and union officials say about 600 of Zimbabwe’s 4Â 500 white farmers have kept their land after the sometimes violent grabs by Mugabe’s supporters.
Eleven South African officials were suspended from office on Wednesday for allegedly helping 10 ”dangerous” inmates escape jail, officials said. ”The 11 officials of the Department of Correctional Services were suspended on Wednesday morning. They have been handed their letters of suspension,” department spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said.
The JSE was still firm at midday on Wednesday on the back of firmer world markets and a slight pick-up in emerging markets. At midday, the FTSE was up 0,43%, the Hang Seng was up 2,87% and the Nikkei was up 0,64%. At 12pm, the JSE all-share index was 1,93% higher.