The body of another South African victim of last week’s tsunami disaster in south-east Asia has been identified — bringing the total number of confirmed South African deaths to eight, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. The number of South Africans unaccounted for has dropped to 985 by 11am on Tuesday.
At least five people were killed and hundreds left homeless when heavy storms swept through KwaZulu-Natal on Monday night. Five people in the Umhlahlani area in Ulundi died in a fire and six others were seriously injured when lightning struck their hut and caused a blaze that razed it.
Aid flights resumed on Tuesday to a major hub of the international tsunami aid operation in Indonesia, after workers removed a supply plane that had hit a herd of cattle. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair absorbed more criticism on Tuesday for not interrupting his holiday following the disaster.
A woman rescued after five days adrift at sea, children miraculously emerging from the wreckage intact, and some ingenious tales of escape: Asia’s tsunami disaster has spawned remarkable stories of survival. In one rare success story, eight-year-old Anthony Praveen opened his eyes and sat up as grave diggers were about to bury him.
Libya has ordered a -million (R73-million) telescope from France, a facility that will give it the finest astronomical views in North Africa, the French magazine Ciel et Espace (Sky and Space) reported on Tuesday. The telescope was ordered by Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi, who has a passionate interest in astronomy.
The first of thousands of displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Equateur province have returned home as part of a pilot project being undertaken jointly by the government and the United Nations. On Friday, 375 internally displaced persons left Equateur’s provincial capital, Mbandaka for their homes.
A Bloemfontein man who allegedly relocated over the festive season left 14 dogs behind to fend for themselves, the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said on Tuesday. SPCA spokesperson in Bloemfontein Reinette Meyer said they found the dogs at a house in Pellisier after the owner allegedly moved to Durban.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was in the red in noon trade on Tuesday due to profit-taking following the bourse’s rally to a record high on Monday. Poor performances by heavyweight stocks offshore and lower commodity prices added to the negative picture. By 12.01pm, the all-share index shed 0,54%.
The head of Johannesburg’s Summit College died on New Year’s Eve when he fell 40m down a rockface at the Victoria Falls while trying to recover spectacles he had dropped, Zimbabwe police confirmed on Tuesday. Rocks and vegetation are notoriously slippery along the lip of the 80m chasm, which is wetted continually by spray.
A 28-year-old bricklayer has gained cult status among ordinary Italians after he threw a camera tripod at the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, on New Year’s Eve, leaving him with a bruise at the back of his head. Roberto dal Bosco told journalists he had not planned to attack the prime minister but could not stop himself when he saw Berlusconi.