Japan and the United States announced a plan on Wednesday to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles and boost troop numbers at US bases in Japan as a top government spokesperson called for more action on North Korea over its recent missile tests.
Survivors of the Java coast tsunami tried to return to normal life amidst the rubble of disaster on Thursday despite aftershocks that continued to spread fear and anxiety. Tens of thousands displaced by the disaster were housed in temporary shelters.
A singer who wore a police uniform to front the Village People disco-era band pleaded no contest to cocaine possession charges on Wednesday, according to prosecutors. Victor Willis, who led his costumed band mates in dance-club hits such as Macho Man and YMCA, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison as a result of the plea bargain.
A private member’s Bill intended to compensate victims of violent crime has been submitted by the Democratic Alliance (DA) at Parliament. Crime was a national crisis and ”everyone knows a victim, or is a victim” of violent crime, said DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
Twenty-four people are now known to have died in the collapse of a four-storey residential building in the Nigerian commercial capital, Lagos, the Nigeria Red Cross said on Thursday. ”Three bodies were pulled out today [Thursday], while one injured person died in the hospital last night [Wednesday],” said Red Cross disaster officer Umar Maigira.
The president of Russian oil company Yukos, Steven Theede, announced his resignation on Thursday, saying that a court-appointed bankruptcy observer had recommended liquidation of the business. ”I am notifying you of my resignation as president. There is now nothing more to be accomplished by me that could benefit the company in a material way,” Theede said.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stares defiantly from posters in Burj al-Barajneh but residents say the Hezbollah leader was safely elsewhere when Israeli jets bombed the southern Beirut suburb aiming to kill him. The Israeli military said dozens of warplanes dropped 23 tonnes of explosives on Wednesday night at a site where it said intelligence showed senior Hezbollah leaders were sheltering in a bunker.
The conservative Afrikaner enclave of Orania in the Northern Cape is to launch two support groups abroad, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Eleanor Lombard said an Orania member in The Netherlands, Koos Kooy, recently registered an association called the Buitelandse Vriende van Orania (Friends of Orania Abroad).
Horn of Africa power Ethiopia said on Thursday it was tracking military movements by Somalia’s newly powerful Islamists and would ”crush” any attack on President Abdullahi Yusuf’s interim government. ”We will use all means at our disposal to crush the Islamist group if they attempt to attack Baidoa, the seat of the transitional federal government,” said Ethiopian Information Minister Berhan Hailu.
Paul Scholes insists Manchester United must mount a serious challenge for the Premiership title this season after admitting that the club have waited too long to secure domestic dominance. Scholes (31) is currently proving his fitness on United’s tour of South Africa after missing five months of last season with a blurred-vision problem affecting his right eye.