Americans represent 5% of the world’s population but drive almost a third of its cars, which in turn account for nearly half the carbon dioxide pumped out of exhaust pipes into the atmosphere each year, according to a report. United States cars play a disproportionate role in global warming because they are less fuel efficient than passenger vehicles used elsewhere in the world.
An intense three-week search for two missing Belgian schoolgirls came to a wretched end on Wednesday when their bodies were found hidden in a storm drain at the side of a railway track half a mile from the bar where they disappeared in Liège.
The alleged blacklisting by the state broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was an ”internal matter”, the South African Cabinet said on Thursday. The SABC has appointed a commission of inquiry into the allegations that a number of commentators including Business Day‘s Karima Brown and author William Mervin Gumede had been ”banned”.
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The South African Cabinet has noted that the emblem for the 2010 Fifa World Cup will be unveiled in Berlin on July 7. In a statement on Thursday — after a regular Cabinet meeting in Pretoria on Wednesday — it said: ”As the 2006 Fifa World Cup reaches its climax in Germany, the world will be watching us carefully to judge whether we will be ready to host this prestigious event.
Israel seized Hamas leaders and stepped up its Gaza assault on Thursday, intensifying the pressure on Palestinians over the capture of a soldier that threatens to spiral into regional conflict. The body of a Jewish settler abducted by militants was also found dumped in the West Bank, adding to the tensions in the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians.
The public perception of the diamond industry remained poor and it couldn’t be said with complete confidence that the perception was "all utter nonsense", De Beers chairperson Nicky Oppenheimer said in a speech released on Thursday. De Beers is the world’s largest diamond miner, 45% held by Anglo American.
Police arrested a man on Thursday who allegedly stabbed his wife 12 times and then tried to disguise the murder as a botched hijacking by driving his bakkie into Durban’s harbour. The 37-year-old husband was arrested at Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital on Thursday morning.
Last week, the Virtual Global Taskforce, formed by police agencies around the world, secured its first conviction in the United Kingdom. Lee Costi, a 21-year-old student from Surrey, was found guilty of raping two underage girls and sentenced to nine years in prison. He was caught after a Nottinghamshire mother alerted police to online conversations he was having with her 14-year-old daughter.
The Directorate of Special Operations, or the Scorpions as it is better known, will remain within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), but political oversight will move to the Minister of Safety and Security. Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane said on Thursday that Cabinet made the decision on Wednesday after studying the Khampepe Commission’s report.
South Africa’s production price index (PPI) for May 2006 was slightly better than forecast, but the historic nature of these statistics are not likely to fool the market. PPI for May was recorded higher at 5,9% from 5,5% before and 0,4% up from 0,1% on a monthly basis.