South Africa’s workers in the petroleum sector said they were hopeful that talks with their employers later on Monday could end their strike over pay, which has severely affected fuel delivery. "We have a meeting tonight [Monday] beginning at 8pm with the employers of the workers and we are hopeful," a union spokesperson said.
Students and medical staff at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital say they feel unsafe — and that administrators need to do more to improve safety at the world’s biggest hospital. On July 30, a student was raped at the hospital. She had been on her way to the blood bank at about 7pm when two men approached her and one of them raped her.
Liberian authorities investigating a possible coup plot have discovered a large cache of new AK-47 ammunition in a town on the main road to Côte d’Ivoire, police said on Monday. Police spokesperson Alvin Jask Kanneh said it was too early to say whether the cache was linked to an alleged scheme to smuggle weapons into Liberia from Côte d’Ivoire.
Police in the Baltic state of Estonia stopped a man who was driving erratically at the weekend, only to find he was blind. The 20-year-old was driving in the southern city of Tartu early on Sunday — helped by instructions from his 16-year-old passenger.
Two of the accused in the Boeremag treason trial said on Monday they had no plans to testify against a couple accused of harbouring them while they were on the run. Herman van Rooyen and Jan Rudolf Gouws said in statement, faxed from their attorney’s office, that it was reported in an ”untruthful way” that they would testify against Jaco Bogaards and his wife, Beth.
Gestetner Diamond Eagles opening batsman Boeta Dippenaar will captain a 14-man SA A squad to play two four-day matches against Zimbabwe in Harare and Bulawayo from August 9 to 18. The first four-day game will be played from Thursday to Sunday and the second from Wednesday to Saturday next week.
One civilian was killed and eight wounded in two bomb blasts in Ethiopia’s remote Ogaden region, officials said on Monday, as Ogaden rebels and the government blamed each other for the explosions. ”Two suspects have been arrested,” said a spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Information Ministry, who declined to be named.
Olympic chiefs should give the All Africa Games the same priority as other continental competitions if they are to be taken seriously by the rest of the world, the event’s director general said on Sunday. The officials said African nations had to change their ”attitude” and respect deadlines set by organising committees.
Exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products will be banned from all of mainland Britain following its recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the European Commission said on Monday. A spokesperson said the commission, the executive arm of the European Union, would formalise the decision — which was agreed with Britain — later on Monday.
Fourteen Africans and one Afghan citizen who participated in the Homeless Soccer World Cup in Denmark have gone missing, police and organisers said Monday. The 15 men had entry visas that expired on Monday and would be arrested and deported if found, Danish police said.