The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) wants the government to investigate ”properly” the circumstances around the escape of a lion from a game farm near Winburg in the Free State, it said on Tuesday. It said it was relieved to hear the escaped animal was finally shot at by a local farmer.
The Orlando Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday refused to soften bail conditions for five people accused of stealing jewellery valued at R4-million from the home of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The five made a brief court appearance. Four of those in the dock were family members of the struggle stalwart.
Mozambique’s government is considering a proposal by a group of United States businessmen to build a ,3-billion oil refinery in the Southern African country. The proposed refinery at Nacala would be the first of its kind in Mozambique, which has relied entirely on imports of oil products.
A woman veiled in black and strapped with explosives blew herself up outside a police station in Iraq on Tuesday, killing 16 people, many of them looking for jobs in the police force. The bombing occurred in the restive town of Muqdadiyah, in the flashpoint province of Diyala, which is now considered the second most dangerous area of Iraq after Baghdad itself.
South African consumer confidence jumped to a record high in the first quarter of 2007, with significantly more consumers expecting the economy and their household finances to improve, a survey showed on Tuesday. The confidence index compiled by First National Bank and the Bureau for Economic Research increased to +23 in the first quarter of this year.
Iran said on Tuesday it is still seeking to hugely expand its nuclear programme by installing 50 000 uranium-enriching centrifuges at a nuclear plant after announcing its atomic drive had entered an industrial phase. Iran said on Monday it could now enrich uranium on an industrial scale.
At least 1 086 people were killed in four days of recent heavy clashes between Ethiopian forces and Islamist fighters backed by clan militia in Mogadishu, elders from the Hawiye clan said on Tuesday. The fighting, which erupted late last month when Ethiopian forces launched a bloody crackdown on suspected insurgents in the Somali capital, also left 4 334 people wounded.
British internet users spend an average of two days a month surfing the web aimlessly, or ”wilfing” as the activity has been dubbed, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Police investigating the recent discovery of bones on a beach at the KwaZulu-Natal holiday resort of Umhloti are expecting to receive an ”interim analysis” from the state pathologist this week. The bones were discovered protruding from the sand on March 21 after the KwaZulu-Natal coast had been pounded by heavy surf.
Shock jock Don Imus, who has made a career out of outrageous comments, was suspended on Monday for making racist remarks by both the radio and television networks that carry his programme. CBS Radio and MSNBC suspended Imus for two weeks for saying the mostly black Rutgers University women’s basketball team looked like a bunch of ”nappy-headed hos”.