A crowd of taxi drivers and operators besieged the Western Cape transport ministry building on Tuesday to protest against a proclamation closing several violence-wracked taxi routes. The proclamation, in effect since midnight on Monday, was issued by the provincial transport minister after months of shootings between rival taxi associations.
Responding to the Department of Trade and Industry’s Budget vote on Tuesday in Parliament, the Democratic Alliance warned that while the economy has grown, its overall position has slid backwards. According to a recent survey, South Africa has slipped on an index of economic freedom from 53rd position last year to 56th this year.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has submitted its response to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s proposed licence conditions, saying it looks forward to working with the authority on the matter. The submission is part of a process to have the SABC comply with Broadcasting Act amendments.
Indonesia’s president said on Tuesday he had been told to slaughter 1 000 sheep to prevent a repeat of the disastrous quakes that have hit his country, but he rejected the advice as superstitious nonsense. ”I have received many SMSes which say: ‘Mr President, please slaughter 1 000 sheep’,” said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
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Zimbabwe’s main opposition party said it will take its seats when the country’s new Parliament is inaugurated on Tuesday, despite branding the March 31 parliamentary polls as a massive fraud. ”Our parliamentarians will be there at Parliament today,” said a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson.
Rescue workers trying to reach 90 people trapped under the rubble of a collapsed factory in Bangladesh warned on Tuesday that time is running out to find survivors, as the death toll reached 25. Firefighters, police and army engineers desperately searched for anyone still alive after the nine-storey building fell early on Monday.
The Webby Awards, the leading international awards for websites, on Tuesday recognised the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> as Webby Worthy, a distinction made for the first time this year to recognise sites exhibiting remarkable achievement. The Webby Awards have been hailed as the "online Oscars" by <i>Time</i> magazine.
Mick Fleetwood sometimes has to lean over at the dinner table and concentrate on what somebody is saying a few feet away. The 57-year-old drummer for Fleetwood Mac said his partial hearing loss is why he became involved in Monday’s experimental ”quiet” rock concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which about 100 people took part — with mixed results.
Eritrea launched a national campaign on Monday that aims to vaccinate about 500 000 children across the country against polio, a United Nations official said. Eritrea has had no confirmed cases of polio since 1997, but cases have been recorded recently in neighbouring Ethiopia and Sudan.
She has not even declared her intention of running for president, but the long shadow of Hillary Rodham Clinton over United States politics has already prompted Republicans to train their sights on the former first lady. The Republican strategist Arthur Finkelstein is reportedly raising -million for a political action committee called Stop Her Now.