Dina Rodrigues, the mastermind in the June 2005 murder of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton, was on Thursday sentenced to life in prison. Two of her co-accused, Sipho Mongezi Mfazwe and Mongezi Bobotyane, also received life sentences. The packed public gallery applauded the sentences loudly.
Beijing’s long-suffering taxi-drivers are in the cross-hairs once again — with shaved heads to be banned from the driving seat ahead of next year’s Beijing Olympics, a report said on Thursday. Just two months after women taxi drivers were banned from wearing "too-fancy" hairstyles, new rules will outlaw beards and shaved heads for the men.
The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8,3% in 2006, with about 9,5-million individuals now estimated to have more than -million in financial assets, a report said on Wednesday. The financial assets owned by the group totalled ,2-trillion, an increase of 11,4% from 2005.
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has been elected chairperson of the board of trustees of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), barely a month after leaving power, his aides said on Thursday. The 70-year-old retired general was elected PDP chairperson on Wednesday.
Debates at the African National Congress (ANC) policy conference in Midrand were on Thursday held in the dark for about an hour after a power failure. The electricity came on shortly after 11am. A security guard at the venue said that generators had powered electricity in one area of the venue. However, on the other side delegates had discussions in the dark.
Allies backed former British prime minister Tony Blair in his new role as Middle East peace envoy for the main global powers, but the Hamas movement poured scorn on the nomination. The diplomatic Quartet for the Middle East named Blair as their representative hours after he stood down as British prime minister on Wednesday.
Gunmen killed four people in Nairobi’s largest slum, raising fears of a possible raid by a dreaded sect blamed for a string of murders and beheadings, police said on Thursday. Police commander Herbert Khaemba said the gunmen attacked Kibera slums, home to at least 800Â 000 people, and killed four after a botched robbery attempt.
Oil prices rose in Asian trading on Thursday following a United States government report that showed an unexpected fall in gasoline stocks amid peak summer driving-season demand. Light, sweet crude for August delivery gained 39 cents to ,36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The government’s final wage offer was accepted by the majority of public-service unions on Thursday, bringing an end to the longest public-service strike in South African history. The unions caucused on Wednesday night at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council in Centurion, south of Pretoria.
The JSE was higher at midday on Thursday but off its best levels as worse-than-expected PPI (producer price index ) data and a stronger rand discouraged buyers in the market. At 12pm the all-share index was up 0,25%. Resources were flat (-0,01%), while the gold and platinum indices fell 0,08% and 0,31% respectively.