Rising South African star Trevor Immelman heads into this week’s British Open knowing he might have to abandon his challenge mid-tournament if he is to witness the birth of his first child. Immelman desperately wants to be at his wife Carminita’s side, but he admitted on Monday that might not be possible if the baby decides to arrive a few days ahead of schedule.
Islamists who control Mogadishu and a large swathe of southern Somalia have opened a sharia court to serve two government-controlled regions, officials said on Monday. The Islamic movement has set up nine new courts in areas it has seized, but it is the first time the Islamists have established a court in an area they do not yet control.
Group of Eight (G8) leaders have been told Iran is seriously considering a package of incentives aimed at getting it to halt its nuclear programme, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday. He said he passed on that message during his meetings with G8 leaders in the Russian Federation.
Idols winner Karin Kortje’s lover Cheslyn Williams made a brief appearance in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with murdering Durbanville guest-house owner Renate Kellerman. The magistrate postponed the case to July 24 to allow investigators to establish whether Williams has a criminal record.
During an official check to certify that Namibia remained polio-free a decade after it declared it had conquered the disease, officials made a surprising find: a 39-year-old man stricken with the virus. On Tuesday, Namibia launches a three-day nationwide immunisation drive aiming to vaccinate the entire population.
A new campaign against farm attacks is to get under way with a protest march in North West on Friday, the trade union Solidarity said. ”We want to make people more emotional over this issue,” Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans told the media. He said vigils and other forms of protest are being planned in the longer term.
Trade union Solidarity announced on Monday that it will commence strike action at petrochemicals group Sasol on Tuesday morning at 6am. "This follows after Solidarity held a mass meeting with members. During this meeting it transpired that the trade union’s members were unhappy with a number of issues, including the company’s attitude towards its workers," Solidarity said.
Israeli strikes killed 41 people across Lebanon on Monday, including 10 civilians hit on a southern bridge, on the sixth day of a bombardment that has wreaked the heaviest destruction in Lebanon for over 20 years. Rescuers also pulled nine bodies from the wreckage of a building in the southern city of Tyre that was bombed on Sunday.
The British government moved on Monday to ban for the first time two Islamist militant groups based in Britain under new laws prohibiting the glorification of terrorism, officials said. Home Secretary John Reid named the outlawed groups as al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect, Home Office officials said.
Space shuttle Discovery made a smooth landing in Florida on Monday, completing a 13-day mission considered critical for the United States space programme’s recovery from the 2003 Columbia disaster. The orbiter landed on schedule under overcast skies at the Kennedy Space Centre at 1.14pm GMT.