About a dozen opposition members, accused of carrying out a spate of firebombings in Swaziland, have been beaten in prison, a defence lawyer told a high court on Thursday. Three of the 16, accused of high treason, stated they were attacked late on Wednesday by about 50 prison warders.
Total South Africa has decided to develop South Africa’s first ever bullfrog reserve, right behind their newly developed Petroport, north of Johannesburg, soon after it discovered the Petroport had destroyed the frogs’ breeding ground. ”Total decided to work with environmentalists in reducing the negative impacts on the frogs.”
The body of Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe’s four-year-old granddaughter was found underneath a bed in one of the rooms of her parents’ Lenasia home, police said on Thursday. The child was thought kidnapped in a robbery on Wednesday and a massive manhunt was launched for the kidnappers.
A Red Cross helicopter crashed while ferrying food to earthquake survivors in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Thursday, injuring the two South African crew members, officials said. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the Puma transport helicopter came down near a heliport in Muzaffarabad.
South Africa’s premier all-rounder, Jacques Kallis, came through a fitness test, and could be included in the team for Friday’s Standard Bank one-day international at Kingsmead. Captain Graeme Smith told journalists on Thursday that Kallis had been taking a full part in team practices.
Upul Tharanga struck his maiden Test century on Thursday as Sri Lanka recovered from an early stutter to take command on the second day of the second Test match against Bangladesh. Tharanga hit an unbeaten 160 to power Sri Lanka to 302-8 at stumps, along with tail-ender Lasith Malinga on 12.
South African wine producers fear that weeks of power cuts in the Western Cape, South Africa’s wine-making region, may have spoiled production of its white wines. The Western Cape has been hit by blackouts since December when an electricity generating nuclear plant in Koeberg outside Cape Town broke down.
A hard-hitting Kevin Pietersen, along with Ian Bell, pulled England out of early trouble with an 81-run stand on the opening day of the second Test against India in Mohali on Thursday. England were struggling on 36-2 following seamer Irfan Pathan’s twin strike, before reaching 118-3 at tea.
Columnist and humorist Art Buchwald says he’s having ”the best time of my life” after deciding to refuse dialysis treatment and stay in a hospice. ”So far things are going my way. I am known in the hospice as The Man Who Wouldn’t Die,” Buchwald (80) wrote in a column published in newspapers on Tuesday.
It may not be the secret to eternal youth, but one Italian company claims to have found a unique way to make people’s skin look younger, healthier and even lighter using, of all things, a truffle. The invention, TruffleTherapy, adds to a collection of gourmet products by the Dafla Skincare Institute made from wine and chocolate.