More than a thousand previously unknown letters, said to have been written by the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso, are to be made available to the public next month, according to a report published on Sunday. Mystery surrounds the find, which promises to be among the most exciting musicological discoveries of recent years.
An Australian woman who stabbed her elderly mother 48 times with a kitchen knife because she complained her lamb chops were undercooked should be spared a jail sentence, the judge hearing the case said on Monday. Julie Smith (49) pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury to her 71-year-old mother Barbara Smith last January in the Melbourne suburban home the two women shared.
German internet security experts declared victory on Monday in a bid to head off a computer virus before it spreads through millions of personal computers worldwide. Sober.P is the computer worm that sent neo-Nazi German-language e-mails on to hundreds of thousands of computers last week.
More and more people are committing family killings because they are "catching", Family and Life Centre director Liz Dooley said on Monday. Her comments follow a bloody fortnight for some South African families. Just over the weekend, 15 people died when men opened fire on their families.
Paramilitary units armed with batons, riot shields and tear gas patrolled main roads in Harare on Monday as police warned they would not tolerate protests against their crackdown on street trading — the only livelihood for thousands of poor township dwellers.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi and United States soldiers on Monday swept through Baghdad’s western suburbs, arresting almost 300 suspected insurgents, in the largest such military operation to date. The US military said the raid was aimed at quelling a recent upsurge in car-bomb attacks in the violence-plagued capital.
A medical conference in Glasgow has heard that whisky can protect the drinker against cancer. ”Research has shown that there are even greater health benefits to people who drink single malt whiskies,” said doctor Jim Swan, adding that single malts — the more exclusive and expensive whiskies — ”have more ellagic acid than red wine”.
Absa Corporate and Merchant Bank (ACMB) has bought a 20% stake in a black-owned financial services company, Vunani Corporate Holdings, the banking group said on Monday. ”We see in Vunani, to a certain extent, what Barclays sees in Absa — a significant upside in the future,” said Robert Emslie, ACMB’s managing executive.
Kenyan police are investigating a retired German national who frequently visits Kenya after he was arrested last week photographing children’s genitals and found to be in possession of a pornographic film featuring minors, officials said on Monday.
About 130 Algerian-born French Jews returned to their home city for the first time in more than four decades on Sunday to a euphoric welcome by residents and with the official blessing of the Algerian government. Although visits by Algerian-born French citizens, known as Pieds Noirs, have been increasing over the past couple of years, this was the first such group visit.