The disclaimer reads: "Passenger warning: this aircraft has been amateur-built, and does not conform to federal regulations." What do I make of this? The "non-standard" aircraft is already airborne over the Magaliesburg, headed out towards the shimmering, blue-brown wastes of the northern regions of South Africa.
The man accused of killing baby Kayla, her mother and grandmother has been found guilty of murdering a man during a hijacking just nine days before the triple murder. William Kekana (19) admitted in the Pretoria High Court on Monday that he kidnapped Jacobus Geldenhuys outside the Pretoria Heart hospital.
Iscor’s potential merger with London-based LNM will offer ”extensive benefits” to the company and South Africa, the steel producer said on Monday. Trade union Solidarity has said that ”a takeover by LNM will not be in the best interest of the South African public”.
French trade union activists claimed responsibility for surprise power outages on Monday that delayed hundreds of thousands of rail passengers in Paris. They warned of more protests over plans for the partial privatisation of the country’s utilities. The outages began at 3.30am local time on Monday morning.
African National Congress secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe has denied a weekend report in City Press newspaper that he forced National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka to apologise to Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana. ”I clearly stated that I had not asked Ngcuka to apologise,” he said in a statement on Monday.
At least six people were killed and four injured in Taiwan on Monday when an explosion ripped through an illegal firecracker factory in the southern region of Chiayi, police said. ”We have found six badly burnt bodies and a number of body parts scattered over the explosion site,” said a police officer.
Telkom — employer of 32 358 people — is planning to reduce its staff numbers by 7% to 10% annually, the company said on Monday. Spokesperson Andrew Weldrick said staff reductions are not something to worry about because Telkom has a ”socially responsible” approach.
Economic interests and countries such as France and the United States were behind a ”coup d’état” that led to his ousting in February, former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide said on Monday. He said he will only contest elections in Haiti next year if the poll is guaranteed free and fair, and democratic.
The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project will provide more than 100 000 jobs, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said on Monday. ”By 2009 the train will be carrying passengers,” Shilowa said in a speech prepared for delivery at the opening of the provincial legislature in Johannesburg.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was facing a battle on Monday to keep his coalition from fracturing and maintain his majority in Parliament after winning qualified Cabinet approval for his Gaza pullout plan. In Cairo, meanwhile, preparations ahead of the withdrawal were going ahead.