A woman in New Mexico tried to escape from jail guards using baby powder, cocoa butter and lots of socks, deputies said. Anita Rachel Thomas (20) was able to wriggle out of leg irons because she was wearing six pairs of socks, authorities said. She used cocoa butter to slide the leg irons and handcuffs from around her ankles and wrists.
Golden Lions coach Eugene Eloff has made two changes to his side to take on the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Currie Cup rugby match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday. Among others, Eloff promoted prop Kenny Mackenzie to the starting line-up due to Heinke van der Merwe’s national call-up.
South African wheelchair marathon athlete Krige Schabort will hope to join Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong as a winner of an ESPY Award following his nomination for best male athlete with a disability. The event takes place on July 15 in Hollywood and is modelled on the Grammy and Academy Awards.
Vodacom and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) disputed on Wednesday the number of workers on strike at the company. The strike — over working conditions — began on Monday. Vodacom said out of its workforce of 4 302 employees, less than 120 were striking countrywide. The CWU said 1 325 were on strike.
Can journalism be taught? Some hardened journos say no — that it’s all about talent and time on the job. Journalism teachers, of course, believe their work does produce results. And, to underline this, about 450 from some 50 countries met in Singapore last week at the first-ever World Journalism Education Congress.
Najwa Petersen fired the shot that killed her husband, Taliep, in December last year, the Wynberg Regional Court heard on Wednesday. Investigating officer Captain Joe Dryden gave the court a graphic account of Petersen’s last moments when he was called to testify in opposition to a bail application.
British police believe they have arrested the main suspects in an al-Qaeda-style bomb plot, some of whom appeared in intelligence databases on radical Islamists, sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday. Security experts were considering reducing Britain’s terrorist threat level, four days after it was raised to ”critical”.
About 700 radical Muslim students surrendered at a besieged mosque in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday, but thousands of militants remained inside a day after 16 people were killed. Hundreds of soldiers and police sealed off the mosque and imposed an indefinite curfew in the neighbourhood after Tuesday’s bloodshed.
Rafael Nadal needed 20 minutes and five match points on Wednesday finally to dispose of Robin Soderling 6-4 6-4 6-7 4-6 7-5 in a rain-hit Wimbledon third round match that spanned three days. The players resumed at 4-4 in the final set in a match that started on Monday and was hit by five rain breaks, with only 20 minutes of play possible on Tuesday.
Progress in getting the National Lottery restarted has passed a ”major milestone”, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Wednesday. Only ”shoe-shine work” remained to be done, although there was no date yet for when the lottery would resume, he told reporters in Pretoria.