A helicopter went down in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all 14 United States soldiers aboard, the military said, the deadliest crash since January 2005. Iraqi security forces also faced more violence in northern Iraq, with a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in the centre of Tikrit.
The HIV prevalence rate in Madagascar may be lower than that in Southern Africa countries, but the level of stigma is just as high.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the state attorney have until Thursday to say if they will pay the legal fees of a former Scorpions boss accused of corruption, theft and fraud. The trial of Geophrey Ledwaba did not begin on Wednesday as his counsel asked for yet another postponement.
Rude graffiti on a wall in Orania had the conservative Afrikaner community in the Northern Cape in a rage recently, media reports said on Wednesday. A resident who was apparently squatting on a plot spent the weekend in jail in Hopetown after he fired shots when residents gave him a tin of paint to cover the crude words.
The JSE was up strongly at midday on Wednesday, taking its cue from a rally in Asian markets. The Hang Seng gained 2,84% and the Shanghai added 0,5%, while the Singapore Straites Times collected 2,61%. At midday on the JSE, the all-share index was up 1,67%. Resources gained 2,31%, and the gold- and platinum-mining indices edged up 0,79% and 0,45% respectively.
The Independent Democrats has accused airport check-in staff and baggage handlers of corruption and endangering flight safety. Simon Grindrod, the party’s deputy leader and a member of Cape Town’s mayoral executive committee, said that check-in staff are accepting bribes not to charge for excess baggage.
Recommendations by a parliamentary committee for the National Youth Commission to form part of an overarching human rights body would further undermine youth development, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) said on Wednesday.
Crude oil prices rebounded in Asian trade on Wednesday after dropping below overnight as Hurricane Dean weakened and it appeared the storm would have no lasting effect on Mexican oil production. Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose by 27 cents to ,84 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
One of President Thabo Mbeki’s VIP protection unit bodyguards will appear in court on Thursday after allegedly shooting a man dead at a shebeen in June. Timothy Sabata (35), a police sergeant, is to appear in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on charges of murder and attempted murder.
Zimbabwe has allowed businesses to raise the prices of some basic goods and services, slightly easing a price freeze that has left shop shelves empty and deepened an economic crisis. President Robert Mugabe’s government had ordered a price rollback to June 18 levels in a bid to stem inflation of more than 4 500%.