An earthquake measuring 5,5 on the Richter scale struck India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were badly hit by the December 2004 tsunami, an official said on Wednesday. ”The intensity of the earthquake was moderate. It was recorded in the Nicobar Islands this evening,” an official at the Indian Meteorological Department said.
Vincent Sherman, who directed — and romanced — Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford during his heyday as a leading Hollywood filmmaker in the 1940s and 1950s, has died. He would have been 100 on July 16. His death at the Motion Picture and Television hospital was announced on Monday by his son, Eric Sherman.
East Rand police are closing in on a gang of 12 to 15 striking security guards believed to be responsible for the deaths of 25 of their non-striking colleagues in Gauteng since the end of March. Two of the alleged ringleaders have already been arrested, said Detective Inspector Gerry van der Merwe.
The man at the helm of Sears, Roebuck and Company when the retailer built the Chicago high-rise that bears its name has died. Arthur H Wood was 93. Wood’s signature is on the last beam used to build the Sears Tower. The country’s tallest building was completed in 1973.
Charles Haughey, who served three terms as Ireland’s prime minister, died on Tuesday at his home in Dublin after a long battle with cancer, the government said. He was 80. ”It is a very sad occasion, and marks the passing of an era,” said Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.
A meeting called by NGOs to discuss a controversial City of Cape Town beggar by-law was disrupted on Wednesday when a city councillor was asked to leave. The by-law outlaws a number of alleged offences, such as intentionally touching or causing physical contact with another person.
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) and United States civil rights leader Jesse Jackson on Wednesday resolved to develop a strategic partnership. Jackson and SACC general secretary Eddie Makue said the partnership will see the two collaborating on a variety of development projects.
The Southern Spears have applied to the high court to force SA Rugby to include the newly formed franchise in both this year’s Currie Cup and next year’s Super 14 competitions. They have literally thrown the ball into the SA Rugby court to show why the resolution adopted by the president’s council of the South African Rugby Union on June 8 last year should no longer be binding.
Creating a seventh electricity distributor to service smaller municipalities will help save the country’s ailing network from imminent failure, Eskom said on Wednesday. ”The difficulty one will face in time to come is that we may very well have the capacity being generated, but find that there is no capacity locally to distribute,” Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe said.
Apparently more at ease with patrol than petrol, blundering London police officers filled up their vehicles with the wrong fuel 150 times last year, the Metropolitan Police Authority said on Tuesday. The gaffes were revealed in its latest figures on driving safety.