Uranus may be responsible for recent devastating Asian sea quakes because the mystery-shrouded ”planet of calamity” is unusually close to the Earth, tabloid newspaper readers in Germany were warned on Wednesday. The report in the Bildnewspaper cites an array of experts ranging from Nasa scientists to TV astrologers.
New South Wales Waratahs vice-captain Phil Waugh believes his unbeaten side must play mistake-free rugby if it wants to halt the high-scoring Crusaders juggernaut in Saturday’s Super 12 rugby blockbuster at Aussie Stadium. The Waratahs lead the ladder with an immaculate record of five wins from as many fixtures.
A three year-old Norwegian boy managed to start the family car and then accidentally ran over and trapped his older sister, police said on Wednesday.
The girl suffered broken bones but was not severely injured, a hospital said.
Massive restructuring in South African prisons will result in the abolition of weekend overtime for warders, and the creation of 8Â 311 new jobs, the minister of correctional services said on Wednesday. The department will be phasing in a seven-day working week, which will save millions of rands in overtime payouts each year.
Reds flyer Drew Mitchell believes carefully concocted offensive tactics will help Queensland break the Highlanders’ Super 12 defensive stranglehold on Friday night. Mitchell Wednesday revealed Queensland’s coaching staff have pinpointed several weaknesses in their opponents defensive structure that permitted only six tries in five games.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused South Africa’s government-aligned observers to Zimbabwe’s elections of wanting to ”rubber-stamp” the outcome. It said it has lost faith in Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s capacity to act impartially.
The tourists streaming through the Louvre in quest of the Mona Lisa will look in vain this coming Monday in the pink room, where she has traditionally been housed. Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait, also known as La Giaconda, has a new home in the renovated Salle des Etats, about 150m away in the famous Paris museum.
KwaZulu-Natal has the most tuberculosis cases in the country, but hospitals are fighting a losing battle against deadly multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB). Although cases of MDR TB have increased dramatically at King George V hospital, not enough resources are being allocated to fight the disease.
The Limpopo provincial government has placed a moratorium on hunting in the private nature reserves that border the Kruger National Park (KNP). The moratorium concerns private reserves that are not separated from the KNP by a fence. However, the chairperson of the Timbavati Association has called the moratorium ”totally illegal”.
A Bosnian teacher irritated by a zealous pupil who practised maths at home even though he had not been given homework punished him by taping his mouth, a school head teacher said on Wednesday. ”In my 33 years’ experience in education, I never heard of such an incident,” the head teacher said.