A diamond-encrusted skull art work by British contemporary artist Damien Hirst has been sold for £50-million (about R718-million) to an investment group, a spokesperson for the White Cube art gallery in London said on Thursday. The platinum skull, cast from an 18th-century European man, is coated in 8 601 diamonds.
In a global effort to save amphibians from a deadly disease, zookeepers around the world want to turn 2008 into the ”Year of the Frog”. As many as 2 000 of the world’s 6 000 known amphibian species are in danger of extinction due to the spread of a parasite fungus called chytrid, which causes frogs to suffocate.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records, obtained unlawfully from the Cape Town Medi-Clinic, must be returned to the institution ”forthwith”, the Johannesburg High Court ordered on Thursday. Delivering the order in the case between the minister and the Sunday Times, the judge also said that all the minister’s medical records on journalists’ laptops be deleted.
The state-owned Mozambican Petroleum Company on Thursday unveiled a -million biofuels project aimed at easing an energy crunch in the fast-growing Southern African nation. A senior official said it will lead to a maximum annual production of 226-million litres of ethanol and biodiesel seven years after start-up.
A Western Cape headmaster, charged with three counts of indecently assaulting young girls, was found not guilty in the Parow Sexual Offences Court on Thursday. Christiaan Abrahams (56), principal of The Hague Primary School in Delft on the Cape Flats, was also acquitted on three charges of possession of child pornography.
A 16-year-old girl is being questioned by German police after the corpse of her newborn baby was found in a washing machine. She told police in eastern Germany the baby was still-born and she hid the body in a laundry basket, Schering said. The body had been put through the laundry cycle along with bed sheets.
Vlakplaas and the first church of the Nama people in the country are to be declared heritage sites, the South African Heritage Resources Agency said on Thursday. Chief executive Phakamani Buthelezi said the declaration of these sites formed part of the agency’s five-year strategic plan. He was addressing the media at the Johannesburg Press Club.
South Africa fears tourists could fall prey to armed robbers, many from neighbouring states, at the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a government minister said on Thursday. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told reporters the region’s police chiefs are trying to tackle cross-border crime.
The African National Congress (ANC) declined to comment on Thursday’s media reports that national membership officer Alex Sithole had been suspended for inflating membership figures. Business Day reported on Thursday that Sithole had issued ANC membership cards to branches from head office, despite instructions that these be issued locally only.
The Taliban have handed four South Korean hostages to Afghan tribal elders and was to hand over the remaining three later on Thursday, a rebel negotiator said. Twelve other hostages were released in three separate groups on Wednesday after negotiations between the insurgents and South Korean negotiators.