Police in Kenya arrested 53 anti-globalisation demonstrators on Thursday, keeping them from reaching the venue of a meeting of trade ministers from 30 countries discussing further efforts to liberalise global commerce, officials said on Thursday. The meeting will discuss a framework accord on future trade rules.
A Swiss musician sees colours when she hears music, and experiences tastes ranging from sour and bitter to low-fat cream and mown grass, astounded scientists say. Zurich University neuropsychologists were so intrigued by the case of ES — whose full name has been withheld — that they recruited her for a year-long inquiry.
The Cook Islands’ main island of Rarotonga battened down on Wednesday as Cyclone Percy continued to batter the tiny South Pacific nation. The cyclone, which dropped to category four from the maximum five during the day, passed to the west of the island of Palmerston early on Wednesday.
The Burmese python is able to boost the size of its heart chambers by half in order to help it digest a big meal, thanks to a remarkable protein that expands cardiac muscle, researchers say. The reptile’s "extraordinarily rapid" increase in heart size enables it to cope with a 40-fold rise in metabolic rate during digestion.
A Norwegian couple survived unscathed when a 40-tonne tank taking part in an international military exercise in central Norway ran over and crushed their car, military sources said on Thursday. "The accident is being investigated by military police. It is too early to say how this could have happened," a military spokesperson said.
A mark on the skull of lion victim Nelson Chisale was not caused by a panga but is a ”normal groove” for veins, a physical anthropologist told the Phalaborwa Circuit Court on Thursday. Chisale was viciously beaten with a panga before being fed to lions in an encampment at the Mokwalo White Lion Project on January 31 last year.
About 80% of Gauteng’s budget of R33,5-billion is earmarked for social services, the province’s finance minister, Paul Mashatile, said on Thursday. The budget will try to address discrepancies in Gauteng, which shows impressive economic growth while battling with high levels of poverty and unemployment and a lack of infrastructure.
North Korea has threatened to conduct a long-range missile test and demanded an apology from the United States for labelling the country an ”outpost of tyranny”. The threat, reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, quoted the officials as saying there is ”now no binding force” for its missile test moratorium pledged in 1999.
After taking a breather on Wednesday, the JSE Securities Exchange resumed its push to record highs on Thursday when strength in heavyweight dual-listed stocks offshore encouraged futures related buying locally. By 12.05pm, the all share index was up 0,52% at 13 526,2 after earlier reaching a highest ever 13 557,19.
Striking truck drivers rejected a new pay offer from the Road Freight Employers’ Association (RFEA) on Thursday, but talks are continuing. After lengthy discussions with the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, the RFEA offered 7% on basic salaries — not 10% as demanded by drivers.