Michael Jackson’s lawyers are working on their final arguments in the star’s child-sex trial that could go to the jurors within days, after three months of often graphic testimony. Now that both sides have rested their case, the rival lawyers could start delivering their closing arguments as early as Wednesday.
Three British men sparked a full-scale air and sea search after going for late-night swim and forgetting where they left their clothes on the beach, eventually going back to their hotel without them, police said on Sunday. Lifeboats and a rescue helicopter were scrambled at Skegness, a seaside resort in eastern England.
Staring through the bottom of an empty glass in a bar might not seem like the obvious moment to consider becoming a priest, but it could become the norm under a novel recruitment scheme hatched by the British Catholic Church. The country’s Catholic hierarchy is to print advertisements seeking new priests on beer mats.
British police expressed scepticism on Sunday over a report that the mute piano virtuoso found wandering on an English beach last month could have belonged to a rock band in the Czech Republic. More than 1 000 people have responded to an appeal for information that could help in identifying the mysterious pianist.
Militias led by two lawmakers in Somalia’s Parliament fought for control of a major south-western trading centre on Monday, killing at least 15 people. The battle began at 3am local time when fighters from a clan faction allied to neighbouring Ethiopia attacked Baidoa with mortars and other heavy weapons.
After Baha Mousa died, his mother broke down every time she entered his room. So the family moved all his belongings out of sight and turned it into a sitting room reserved for special occasions. On Sunday his father, brothers, cousins and two young sons gathered there to hear the reports from London that up to 11 British soldiers could be prosecuted under international war crimes legislation for his death.
Police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) were on Monday investigating an incident in which a cat was strangled and thrown into a garden at the Bluff yacht club in Durban. Meanwhile, there is still no progress in the search for those who microwaved a live cat at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pinewood residence.
Television station e.tv has been given the rights to broadcast the judgement in the fraud and corruption trial of businessman Schabir Shaik on Tuesday and Wednesday, National Prosecutions Authority spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said on Sunday. Other media will have to apply for accreditation to cover the trial, he said.
The African National Congress’s disciplinary hearing of embattled Beaufort West politician Truman Prince has been postponed to June 6. Prince’s advocate, Charles Simon, said his client pleaded not guilty to all charges, including alleged intimidation and death threats.
The national executive committee of the African National has resolved to "act with firmness and resolve" against corruption in the party’s ranks. In a statement on Monday following a meeting of the committee at the weekend, the organisation said it act "against any members of the ANC found guilty of any misdemeanour".