Legislation intended to tighten child pornography laws and close loopholes was approved in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. In terms of the Films and Publications Amendment Bill, the offences of possession, creation and distribution of child pornography will be separated for the purpose of sentencing.
The well-known Afrikaans radio, television, stage and film producer Truida Louw died on Tuesday morning aged 91, her family said in a statement. She died at her home in Darrenwood Village, Linden, in Johannesburg. Louw was the widow of poet NP van Wyk Louw and the sister of actress Anna Neethling-Pohl and composer Jan Pohl.
The United Nations’s health body raised alarm on Tuesday over a jump in deadly cases of hepatitis E in Sudan’s Darfur region and another agency said a new wave of refugees has fled to neighbouring Chad to escape the violence.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120506">Refugees ‘lose hope in peace process'</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120486">Darfur’s messenger of peace</a>
A delegation of Iraqis meant to help negotiate an end to the uprising in Najaf was forced on Tuesday to delay its mission to the holy city when it could not get a military escort for the dangerous journey. As the delegation waited, a mortar round hit a busy Baghdad street, killing seven people and injuring 47.
Baghdad tries new Najaf peace bid
Massive blast in central Baghdad
Movie-goers were easy prey for a double dose of space invaders. The sci-fi smackdown Alien vs Predator, featuring the creatures of the ”Alien” and ”Predator” franchises, debuted as the number one weekend movie in the United States with ,25-million, studio estimates showed on Sunday.
The rand’s recent weakness suggests that the currency is moving back into line with other resource-based currencies, following a period of unsustainable outperformance. With the local unit continuing to trade above its long-term, real, trade-weighted value, some further underperformance is likely.
The technologies to halt global warming for 50 years already exist, according to research published this week in the journal <i>Science</i> — and implementing them should begin immediately. The study focuses on the role of carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are burnt.
South Africa and the rest of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has once again failed to stand up for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe by siding with President Robert Mugabe’s government, South African official opposition leader Tony Leon said in a statement on Tuesday.
Environmental degradation resulting from a prolonged drought in northern and north-eastern Somalia is threatening to destroy the livelihoods of an estimated 120Â 000 livestock rearers, a United Nations official said on Monday. He said that goats and sheep belonging to livestock herders in the region have eaten up all vegetation.
Rescuers were on Tuesday working to save dozens of people stranded on rooftops or trapped in their houses in Istanbul as floods triggered by torrential rains left parts of Turkey’s largest city under water, media reported. Meteorological services say the rain was the heaviest to hit the city in a decade.