A black youth was ”tricked” into opening a shack door to police investigating the murder of Baby Jordan-Leigh Norton, the Cape High Court heard on Thursday. The teenager, who may not be named, is one of four alleged hitmen in the dock with Dina Rodrigues for the alleged murder in June last year of the baby — the six-month-old daughter of Natasha Norton.
All Blacks Leon MacDonald and Aaron Mauger scored two tries each on Friday to give the Canterbury Crusaders a bonus point from a 43-15 win over South Africa’s Cats. Fullback MacDonald and centre Mauger both scored tries in each half, All Blacks lock Chris Jack and halfback Andy Ellis added others as the Crusaders ensured their place at the top of the championship ladder cannot be overtaken in the sixth round.
Riot police on Thursday night fired rubber pellets and tear gas at students who pelted them with petrol bombs and stones as protests at new labour laws boiled over in the heart of Paris. Police fought running battles with the rioters, who set cars alight and smashed shop windows near the Sorbonne on the Left Bank.
A Chinese dissident was jailed on Friday for 10 years over an essay he posted on the internet, a United States-based rights body said, as China continued its crackdown on people who express anti-government views. Ren Zhiyuan was sentenced by the Jining City Intermediate Court for ”subverting state sovereignty”, New York-based Human Rights in China said.
The United Nations war crimes tribunal was expected on Friday to reveal findings of a forensic analysis carried out to determine whether any poisons were present in Slobodan Milosevic’s body when he died in its custody. The development is eagerly awaited by many of his supporters, who have voiced suspicions that his heart attack was the result of poisoning.
”Theft” of water by South African farmers upstream the Nkomati River has prompted a complaint from downstream Mozambique, after the river’s flow dropped to a trickle last year. The department of water affairs’ executive manager for institutional oversight, Silas Mbedzi, said the Mozambicans had been very upset when the river ”almost stopped” flowing across the international border.
In a little under one year, all eyes will be on the West Indies when they roll out the red carpet and welcome the world to cricket’s 2007 International Cricket Council World Cup. March 13 marked one year before the first ball is delivered in the tournament between hosts West Indies and Pakistan at Sabina Park in the Jamaican capital.
Roger Federer didn’t give Ivan Ljubicic a look in on Thursday as he sped past the Croatian Davis Cup hero and into the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters Series. Ljubicic had stretched the Swiss world number one to three sets in three of their five encounters last year, but Federer quickly sucked any suspense out of this one, needing just 66 minutes to post a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Although South Africa currently has one of the fastest growing new vehicle markets in the world, the local motor industry still has a number of significant challenges to address, according to McCarthy CEO Brand Pretorius. Pretorius was speaking at the opening of the Durban Motor Show on Friday.
French cosmetics giant L’Oreal said on Friday it would buy Body Shop International, renowned for its ethical hair and skin products, for $1,143-billion (£652 million). L’Oreal will pay 300 pence a share for Body Shop, which will be maintained as a separate entity and continue to be led by its current management team.