Indian police defused four home-made bombs found on a train in the eastern city of Kolkata on Monday, police said, three days after a blast at a mosque killed 11 people in the south of the country. The train was headed for Tarakeshwar, a Hindu holy town, about two hours west of Kolkata.
An enormous gulf exists between the levels of service provided by different provinces, a Democratic Alliance (DA) study has found. ”If you are poor and reliant on the state for health, education and housing, the best provinces to live in are the Western Cape, Gauteng and the North West,” DA spokesperson Willem Doman said on Monday.
The Somali president has warned that ”terrorists” were threatening his shattered country’s security and slammed international donors for failing to help as promised, in an interview with Agence France-Presse. An Ethiopian-backed government offensive in Mogadishu last month ended weeks of clashes with Islamist-led insurgents.
The Independent Democrats (ID) in Cape Town called an emergency caucus on Monday to discuss the impact of the draft budget on the 406 739 households across the city. A report reveals that 52% of households would experience increases between 15% and 50% in rates and tariffs, the ID said.
The Pakistani prime minister’s charm failed to work its magic on steely United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice according to a new biography of her, the <i>Dawn</i> daily reported on Monday. The book describes in excruciating detail how Shaukat Aziz allegedly tried to impress Rice when she visited South Asia in March 2005, according to the newspaper.
A New Zealand city dubbed the "suicide capital" by John Cleese has responded by naming a rubbish heap at the local dump after the British comedian. Proving that revenge is a dish best served cold, the sign for Mt Cleese has been erected more than a year after Cleese revealed he had a "thoroughly bloody miserable time" in Palmerston North.
Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves will join Manchester United for about £17,5-million, according to reports on Monday. Minor details of the deal remain to be thrashed out, but Hargreaves is believed to be already looking for a house in the Manchester area, before joining up with his teammates on July 2.
Flanker Luke Watson kept his place on Sunday in a revised Springbok squad for the first Test against England on May 26 while Bulls flyhalf Derick Hougaard was added as cover for the injured Andre Pretorius. Hougaard’s inclusion came an hour after officials released details of a squad that had been reduced from 46 to 37 players. The addition of Hougaard made it 38.
Silver Stars beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in an exciting Castle Premier Soccer League clash at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday. The result means that Chiefs will not participate in the SAA Supa8 tournament, a cup they won last year. Hareiapha ”Simba” Marumo headed in a Tshepo Ramokala cross to put Stars in the lead just on the half-hour mark.
As a schoolmaster lecturing benevolently to wayward students on how to behave in the classroom, Victor Hlungwane would probably receive full marks. As a soccer referee who is supposed to give decisions in accordance with the rules of the game, his performance during the goalless draw between Moroka Swallows and SuperSport United on Sunday deserved no more than a fail mark.