A trailer carrying dozens of puppies to pet stores caught fire just off an interstate highway in Massachusetts in the United States, killing all of the estimated 60 dogs inside, authorities said. The driver first noticed smoke coming from his trailer just before 5pm local time on Monday, state police said.
Aquarium officials in St Louis in the United States hope an exhibit that opens next week and runs until September 5 will earn a Guinness World Record for the most two-headed animals on display, according to a media report. So far, the World Aquarium at the City Museum has lined up 10 two-headed snakes and turtles.
Scientists in Australia have discovered a fossilised ancient relative of the blue whale with a fearsome razor-toothed appearance that has seen it dubbed ”the T. rex of the oceans”. The fossil is the latest in a list of ancient creatures, including the unlikely sounding ”demon duck of doom”, that are reshaping views of Australia’s prehistoric past.
A severe humanitarian crisis may erupt this year in Somalia, where insecurity could compound crop failures and leave about 3,6-million people in need of urgent aid, a United Nations agency said on Wednesday. Still battling to recover from the effects of a killer drought that hit East Africa, about 1,8-million Somalis remain dependent on assistance.
Ethiopia braced on Wednesday for a sharp rise in the death toll from flash floods that have killed at least 455 people in the south and east of the country this month and have now spread north. As efforts continued to rescue up to 20 000 people marooned in the south and locate 250 missing in the east, new floods were reported north of the capital.
Springbok coach Jake White has sent Enrico Januarie, JP Pietersen, Pierre Spies and Lawrence Sephaka back to their respective unions to get some much needed mileage in their legs and shred off a few kilograms. Meanwhile, former Western Province and Eastern Province coach Alan Zondagh is helping the team train.
South Africa’s Parliament approved legislation on Tuesday for the 2010 World Cup, with lawmakers showing rare unanimity that South Africa will be ready to host soccer’s biggest event. ”The World Cup offers us an opportunity to present ourselves to the world for what we really can be,” Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile said.
Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes were both banned on Tuesday for three matches by the Football Association after losing claims for wrongful dismissal during a pre-season friendly against Porto in Amsterdam on August 4. The bans will start from Wednesday August 23.
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) and private broadcast channel Supersport on Tuesday launched a high-performance academy for rugby that will be based in Alicedale, near Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. The institute will house 30 players from across the country between the ages of 17 and 20 years.
The Coega Development Corporation may be forced to award an R82-million contract to a white-owned family firm, media reports said on Wednesday. This would happen if the Port Elizabeth High Court ruled in favour of Scribante Construction, which is disputing the awarding of the contract to an empowerment consortium.