Envelopes with cash have been left in public restrooms across Japan, officials said on Wednesday, as the bizarre form of anonymous charity turned into a nationwide phenomenon. A day after two small cities on the main island of Honshu reported finding cash in men’s rooms in public buildings, officials across Japan disclosed that they too had discovered such mysterious packages.
The question of who smoked what and with whom is making Australian politicians dizzy after a rock singer said he had shared marijuana joints with an MP and visiting U2 star Bono. Silverchair singer Daniel Johns said in a radio interview this week that he had been invited with his actress wife, Natalie Imbruglia, and MP Peter Garrett to a house rented by Bono in Sydney last November.
Mining giant BHP Billiton said on Wednesday that Cape Town-born Marius Kloppers is to succeed Chip Goodyear as its CEO from October this year. A chemical engineer by training, Kloppers is currently group president of non-ferrous materials including copper, lead, zinc and nickel, as well as diamonds.
Libya’s Supreme Court will rule on Wednesday on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus following a report of a deal for their release. The highly politicised case of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor has blocked Libya’s efforts to deepen links to the West.
Zimbabwean police have set up roadblocks to stop the movement of basic commodities between cities and rural areas. Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said that police had information that shop owners were moving loads of basic commodities to rural areas for ”safe keeping”.
It has been one of the central claims of those who challenge the idea that human activities are to blame for global warming. The planet’s climate has long fluctuated, say the climate sceptics, and current warming is just part of that natural cycle — the result of variation in the sun’s output and not carbon dioxide emissions.
Defending champions Brazil reached the Copa America final on Tuesday, beating a feisty Uruguay on penalties after twice surrendering the lead in a 2-2 draw. Maicon put Brazil ahead early on before a floodflight failure stopped the first half of the semifinal for 14 minutes.
The new Harry Potter movie drew lukewarm reviews on Tuesday, but millions of ”muggles” are expected to ignore the critics and turn out in droves for the widest release for Warner Brothers studio. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opened across South Africa, including at the Imax theatre in Pretoria, on Wednesday.
At least 20 people were injured when a truck collided with a train in Pretoria West on Wednesday, paramedics said. ER24 spokesperson Riana Beech said the 20-tonne truck had been travelling along Roger Dyson Road in Pretoria West when its brakes are believed to have failed, causing the driver to lose control.
South Africa have made four changes, as well as appointing a new captain, for Saturday’s Tri-Nations match against New Zealand at Christchurch. Lock Johann Muller will skipper the Springboks after Bob Skinstad was sent home when he broke a rib in last weekend’s 25-17 loss to Australia in Sydney.