Two security guards were seriously injured when a group of nine armed men assaulted them with hammers and took money from their cash van in Olifantsfontein, East Rand police said on Saturday. Spokesperson Captain Jethro Mtshali said the men allegedly approached the SBV van at a stop street at 8am on Saturday, held the guards at gun point and assaulted them with hammers.
A militant Islamist group in Iraq has threatened in a videotape showing two purported German hostages to execute them if the Berlin government fails to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The Kataeb Siham al-Haq (Righteous Arrows Battalions) said in the videotape posted on Saturday on an Islamist website: "We give the German government 10 days from the date of this statement …"
The Safety and Security Ministry has spent more than R100-million for private security to patrol premises of the South African Police Services in 2005 and 2006, the Saturday Star newspaper reported on Saturday. In a written response to Democratic Alliance MP Donald Lee, Minister Charles Nqakula said this was done so as to make it possible for police to fight and prevent crime.
Ethiopia said on Saturday it was in contact with an armed group that kidnapped five Europeans and eight locals in a remote northern region, but ruled out a military operation to rescue them. ”Those who are responsible are being reached through different channels, and we are hoping that these people would be freed unharmed and safe,” Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said.
Envoys from the United States and its arch foes Iran and Syria were to sit together to discuss the crisis in Iraq for the first time on Saturday at talks called by the Iraqi prime minister. Diplomats from Iraq’s neighbours and from the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council were expected at the Foreign Ministry in war-torn Baghdad.
Brad Delp, the lead singer of the 1970s and 1980s rock band Boston was found dead at his home in southern New Hampshire on Friday, local police said. Delp (55) was apparently home alone and there was no indication of foul play, Atkinson, New Hampshire, police said.
Brad Delp, the lead singer of the 1970s and 1980s rock band Boston, was found dead at his home in southern New Hampshire on Friday March 9, local police said. Delp (55) was apparently home alone and there was no indication of foul play, Atkinson, New Hampshire, police said.
Momentum was growing on Friday in Zimbabwe for the holding of a weekend prayer rally by a church-led coalition in the capital, Harare, despite a police ban on political meetings. Lucky Moyo, spokesperson for the Save Zimbabwe Campaign Taskforce, told the media that the group had informed the police of their intention to hold a peaceful prayer rally on Sunday in Highfield suburb.
Captain Thierry Henry will not play for Arsenal for the rest of this season due to injuries, the Premier League club said on Friday. The France striker, who damaged stomach and groin muscles in his team’s Champions League exit to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday, should be ready for next season, Arsenal said.
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Pakistan comfortably overhauled South Africa’s 199 in a World Cup warm-up match that was almost abandoned because of an uneven pitch on Friday. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf combined for a 100-run third-wicket partnership to propel Pakistan to 200-3 with nearly six overs to spare.