Floods and related disasters have killed 910 people in China so far this year with another 218 missing, the International Red Cross said on Friday as it launched an emergency appeal for ,4-million in aid. Most of the deaths occurred since May, when the flood season kicked in.
Marguerite and Andre Debry, 100 and 107 years old respectively, may well be the oldest married couple in the world, the daily Le Parisien reported on Friday. The pair from the central French town of Argenton-sur-Creuse met shortly after World War I and celebrated their 81st wedding anniversary on Friday.
Blackman Ngoro, who was ousted this week as media adviser to the mayor of Cape Town, has bounced back with a new approach to race relations. He has offered space on his website for ”Khoisan intellectuals” to write about their history, and urged that the term ”coloured” should be buried ”once and for all”.
Bahrain’s newly crowned 1Â 500m world champion Rashid Ramzi began his quest for a golden double with an easy win in his 800m first-round heat at the World Athletics Championships in Montreal on Thursday. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa struggled to get the third automatic qualifying spot.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal and American Andre Agassi remained on course for a possible final showdown as they booked quarterfinal berths at the ,45-million ATP Masters Series in Montreal on Thursday. Nadal emerged with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over France’s Sebastien Grosjean.
In a development that raises further concern over the conduct of Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana, the Mail & Guardian has established that Mushwana personally intervened to remove a politically sensitive investigation from his Cape Town office. His subsequent report declined to investigate most allegations and took others no further.
The number of hungry children in Africa will increase by more than three million by 2025 if current policy and investment trends continue, according to a new report that predicts the continent will fail to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving child malnutrition by 2015 unless more aggressive measures are taken now.
A whale-watching boat braved rough seas and a strong wind on Thursday to tow back a snoek boat that capsized off Onrus near Hermanus in the Western Cape on Wednesday. ”All four of [the boat’s crew members] were rescued by the fishing craft Rosemary,” a National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson said.
Phalaborwa Circuit Court state prosecutor Ivy Thenga will give reasons on Friday why the killers of Nelson Chisale, who was fed to lions, deserve heavy sentences. This follows two days of evidence in mitigation of sentence by the defence for Mark Scott-Crossley and Simon Mathebula.
Two missing Mthatha boys were found sodomised and murdered at a disused bus depot on Friday, Eastern Cape police said. The boys — aged six and 12 — disappeared late on Thursday afternoon. ”I have just come from the scene. It is terrible, terrible,” said police spokesperson Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta