Scientists said on Tuesday night that they may have detected a signal from the world’s first solar sail spacecraft, hours after the experimental craft suddenly stopped communicating following its launch. Cosmos 1 appeared to be lost when initial data reception was followed by silence almost immediately after its launch.
The government’s campaign to clear the homes, businesses and even gardens of the poor from its cities has sparked more violence, a pro-government newspaper reported on Wednesday even as state radio claimed those displaced were being provided for.
An Australian woman braved bites and scratches to bring the family cat back from the dead with the kiss of life. ”His breath wasn’t that bad — I’d do it again,” said mother of three Kelly Johns on Wednesday of the weekend drama at her home in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Manufacturers are ”bleeding” because of the strong rand, which should depreciate to 7,50 to the dollar by the end of next year, the University of Stellenbosch’s Bureau for Economic Research (BER) said on Wednesday. Chief economist at the BER, Pieter Laubscher, said that South Africa cannot sustain the current account deficits brought on by the rand.
Twelve French troops were convicted in a Paris military court of stealing cash last year from an Côte d’Ivoire bank they supposedly were protecting, the Ivorian daily Fraternite reported on Wednesday. The troops stole about 000 dollars from the bank in the rebel- held town of Man in the country’s northwest.
The United States and Mozambique inked a trade and investment framework agreement on Tuesday in Washington with the goal of increasing economic ties. United States Trade Representative Rob Portman and Mozambican Minister of Industry and Commerce Antonio Fernando signed the deal.
At least eight people have been arrested in two towns in eastern Zimbabwe after they tried to stop police demolishing their makeshift homes, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Residents of Marondera and Wedza fought running battles with the police, who are carrying out a controversial clean-up campaign, the Daily Mirror said.
Arms supplied by G8 countries are being used by regimes that violate human rights, impoverish their people and fight their neighbours, a report by leading development agencies and campaigners warns on Wednesday. The G8 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US — account for 84% of all worldwide arms supplies.
AngloGold Ashanti has decided to continue operations in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the gold mining company said in a statement on Tuesday. It said a team of senior executives recently conducted a review of the company’s exploration activities in the DRC in the wake of a recent scandal that involved it paying ”protection money”.
South Africa held off defending champion New Zealand 16-12 on Tuesday and will play Australia in the weekend final of the world under-21 rugby championship. Australia defeated France 28-16 in the other semifinal. South Africa controlled the ball early and Cedrik McKize broke through the centres to score a 19th-minute converted try.