China plans to build 48 new airports over the next five years in an aviation spending splurge that will delight architects and plane makers but heighten concerns among environmentalists. With the economy booming, hundreds of millions more journeys are being made by air every year, prompting a rush to buy planes that has made China the most important customer for Boeing and Airbus
Mickey Mouse’s genitals, plastic cats with Hitler moustaches, and a paint-flecked portrait of the French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, were among the works on show on Tuesday as Paris’s modern art triennial opened amid controversy and picketing.
Police in London said on Wednesday they have arrested a 37-year-old man after a girl, aged 11, gave birth to a baby boy. The young girl, reportedly from an African country, went into labour at Hillingdon Hospital in West London on May 5. She and her baby have since been taken into the care of Hillingdon Borough Council.
America’s most notorious polygamous sect is being investigated as an organised-crime operation, it emerged on Tuesday, in one of several signs that the net is closing on the group’s fugitive leader. Warren Jeffs, the self-declared prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, joined Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s most-wanted list at the weekend.
An ammonia leak at a Vito ice-cream factory in Crawford resulted in more than 210 factory workers and schoolchildren being rushed to hospitals in Cape Town on Wednesday morning. Children from two primary schools in the area suffered discomfort to the eyes and experienced difficulty breathing, said principal Abubakr Jardine, from the Belthorn Primary School.
An Andy Warhol canvas portraying a can of Campbell’s Soup was auctioned off here for nearly ,8-million, Christie’s auction house reported late on Tuesday. The sale of Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot), a 1962 canvas, set a record for work from the artist’s Campbell’s Soup series.
Pressure built on Wednesday on Nigeria over attempts to give President Olusegun Obasanjo a third term in office by changing the Constitution, with United Nations chief Kofi Annan and the Economic Community of West African States weighing into the debate. African leaders should "play by the rules", the UN secretary general said in an interview.
A British court on Wednesday recommended that Briton Gary McKinnon, who allegedly hacked into United States defence computer systems, be extradited to the US to stand trial for what has been called the ”biggest military hack of all time”. His case is expected to be passed to Home Secretary John Reid for a final decision.
The JSE reached a new high on Wednesday, buoyed by rampant precious metals prices. Players were jittery, however, on concerns that the market was ripe for a correction after a phenomenal run.
The United States is a ”fortress” because of its high defence spending and Russia should follow suit in order to ensure a solid defence of its own, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. The US defence budget, in absolute terms, ”is almost 25 times that of Russia’s. Their home is their castle — and well done, well done,” Putin said. ”It means we should build our own house strongly and reliably.”