A wild elephant in India’s eastern state of Orissa has been waylaying motorists who complain that the animal refuses to let their vehicles pass unless they give it food, a media report said on Monday. Witnesses told the Hindustan Times daily that the elephant has been scouting for food on a highway in the northern Keonjhar district.
Officials from 75 nations on Monday begin talks critical to whale conservation amid pressure — notably from Japan — to lift a 20-year ban on commercial hunting of the gentle giants. The United States is reportedly under increasing pressure to compromise with Japan, which together with Norway and Iceland wants to end the moratorium.
A woman and her two young children died after inhaling toxic fumes from a brazier burning in their home at Diepsloot, Johannesburg emergency workers said on Monday. Spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said the children’s father was critically injured. He was taken to the Thembisa Hospital for further treatment.
It’s back to business on Monday for the Springboks and England as they prepare for the second Test in Pretoria this coming Saturday. With the first Test behind them, both teams will be more settled and focused for their second encounter, which could be a whole new ball game.
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint return to the Durban High Court on Tuesday. The NPA will attempt to obtain an execution granting it permission to get documents from Mauritius about meetings believed to relate to Zuma’s role in the multibillion-rand arms deal.
Gauteng’s provincial ministers for transport and finance should be fired for bungling the proposed monorail between Soweto and central Johannesburg, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. The R12-billion monorail project was put on hold after Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said he had not been informed about the project and only heard about it through the media.
The father of notorious prison escapee Annanias Mathe was granted bail at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Zaphanias Mathe (80) was granted R500 bail. He will appear in court again on June 19, coincidentally the same day that the younger Mathe will also appear to face his prison-escape charges.
The JSE was slightly firmer at noon on Monday in a dull session as investors refrained from making any large moves because the United States and some European markets were closed for a public holiday. At noon, the all-share index was up 0,26%.
Africa remains on the march to economic prosperity with growth of 6% expected in 2007 from 5,6% this year, said the United Nations in its mid-year <i>World Economic Situation and Prospects Report</i>, launched in Johannesburg on Monday. "Strong growth is expected to continue into 2008," the report says.
Police using water cannons on Sunday dispersed thousands of stone-throwing protesters outside Venezuela’s telecom authority, which ordered the country’s most popular television off the air at midnight. The closure of Venezuela’s oldest network is the latest bone of contention in President Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution.