Seven people have died in Namibia and 27 have fallen ill after an outbreak of polio, the first in the Southern African country since 1995, the health ministry said on Tuesday. "We have 34 cases and I can confirm today that it is polio," said Kalumbi Shangula, the permanent secretary of the health ministry.
Draped in the traditional jackets and robes of southern Iraq, the skeletons lie in a grim tableau at the bottom of the sandy ditch, their jaws open and blindfolds of tattered Arab scarves tied around their empty eye sockets. "I believe they were shot here," said Michael Trimble, head of the mass graves unit for the Regime Crimes Liaison Office in Iraq.
South Africa’s national parks are to get a R395-million facelift over the next three years, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced on Tuesday. ”This [spending] will be concentrated on … upgrading 520 existing accommodation units, supplying 100 new units [and] upgrading and constructing 320km of tourist roads,” he said.
Earthlife Africa is "disillusioned" by what it called South African Minister Alec Erwin’s "continuing confusion" about the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). "Erwin cites the PBMR as an efficient and economical method of providing power. Since its inception, costs and schedules on the PBMR have continued to escalate," Earthlife Africa said in a statement on Tuesday.
India’s Supreme Court has upheld an order by a state government asking US biotech giant Monsanto’s Indian arm to cut the price of its genetically-modified Bt Cotton seeds, reports said on Tuesday. The southern state of Andhra Pradesh had last month asked Mahyco Monsanto not to charge more than 750 rupees ($16) for 450g of cotton seeds.
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Wayne Rooney worked out separately from his England teammates on Tuesday at their idyllic Black Forest training camp amid a surge of optimism that he could be fit for the World Cup. Pictures of Rooney unleashing a flying scissor-kick with his injured right foot dominated British newspapers, triggering speculation that he might yet be given the all-clear to stay with the squad.
The naked body of man was found lying next to the railway line between Sharon Park and Dunottar on Johannesburg’s East Rand, police said on Monday. Spokesperson Superintendent Andy Pieke said the body — in the early stages of decomposition — had wounds indicating he may have been thrown off a moving train.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from the slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi as lava flows spread further down the slopes of the volcano on Tuesday, officials said. The volcano alert was put on red on May 13 but residents have been particularly nervous since a deadly earthquake rocked the region 10 days ago.
According to the National Youth Victimisation Study 2005, 4,3-million youngsters were assaulted, robbed or sexually assaulted — or fell victim to other crimes such as housebreaking, theft or car hijacking — in the year since September 2004.
Recent weeks have seen several newspaper headlines about violent incidents at schools. These violent outbursts among children are not isolated incidents. In reality, most crimes are committed by young offenders. ”Estimates talk about 60% to 80%,” says Amanda Dissel, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.