The newspaper awards kick tabloid reporters in the teeth every year, writes Madala Thepa.
A Bloemfontein man has miraculously survived, with no serious injuries, a 1 000m jump after his parachute failed to open properly during his first high-altitude jump, the Volksblad reported on Monday. Benno Jacobs (35) fell into a ploughed field near the Tempe airport at Bloemfontein after his 60-second jump.
By last month, 41 years had gone by since what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo had held democratically contested elections, and it is no wonder that citizens had grown disillusioned with the political process. But the current electoral process has provided a brief window of opportunity to change that mindset, writes Stephanie Wolters.
It is Sunday and the market at the Farchana refugee camp in eastern Chad is half empty. Mahamet Arum, a Sudanese refugee from the town of Diiba in western Darfur, is setting out his wares. Home-made perfumes, hair clips and skin creams crowd his little stall. Arum has spent the past year living in the Farchana camp. Like most of the other refugees living in the camp, he is waiting for the situation to improve before he returns.
Hundreds of frightened South Africans attended the funeral on Saturday of five women believed to be the victims of a serial killer blamed for as many as nine murders near Johannesburg. Nine bodies have been discovered since January, dumped in open fields near the town of Centurion, north of Johannesburg.
Inspired by a Monty Python sketch, a charity fund-raiser in London with an odd-ball sense of humour submitted himself on Saturday to being slapped in the face with a couple of wet fish. Ben Fillmore (24) turned up as promised at high noon to be publicly humiliated with two fresh Scottish rainbow trout at the hands of student Lucy Berry (23).
Austria said on Saturday it has asked the Tanzanian government for an explanation after filmmaker Hubert Sauper accused it of targeting people who took part in his award-winning documentary Darwin’s Nightmare, an indictment of the pitfalls of globalisation in Africa.
The eruption of Tungurahua in Ecuador has left 20 000 people living in the shadow of the volcano in urgent need of assistance, Red Cross officials said on Saturday. Ecuadorean President Alfredo Palacio has appealed to the international community for donations of money and material aid.
Thousands beamed into Las Vegas, Nevada, this weekend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, the enduring science-fiction television franchise whose cult appeal transcends boundaries of space and time. Star Trek has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most durable products.
Flooding, landslides and lightning have killed 15 people and left one missing since Friday night in Vietnam, bringing the country’s toll in a week of torrential rain to 42, reports said on Sunday. Thousands have been evacuated to higher ground as water levels in the northern region’s main rivers were expected to continue rising.