Fourteen Africans and one Afghan citizen who participated in the Homeless Soccer World Cup in Denmark have gone missing, police and organisers said Monday. The 15 men had entry visas that expired on Monday and would be arrested and deported if found, Danish police said.
A suicide bomber sped into a Shi’ite village and blew up a truck packed with explosives, unleashing a massive blast that killed 30 people and pulverised mud-brick homes in northern Iraq on Monday. The bomber detonated his deadly charge in al-Quba after driving across farmland, flattening homes, killing 30 people and wounding dozens.
Allegations of embezzlement against South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande were unfounded, the Young Communist League said on Monday. YCL chairperson David Masondo said: ”We as the youth wing have engaged with Nzimande, and he said the allegations were untrue.”
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe criticised what he called unfair media reports aimed at muddying the image of developing countries, as Asian and African leaders held talks on Monday on fighting poverty. Mugabe slammed news reports that are ”quite often deliberately intended to tarnish and mislead”.
Hundreds of sharks have been slaughtered daily off the coast of Ecuador since a ban on the sale of fins was lifted last week, prompting warnings of ecological disaster. Fishing boats have returned to shore laden with fins of dozens of species, including several that are threatened with extinction.
South Africa’s National Treasury said on Monday the country will not impose a windfall tax on synthetic fuel producers such as Sasol and PetroSA. ”[The] government has also decided not to proceed with a tax on the windfall profits earned by existing synthetic fuel producers,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica on Monday assured South Africans that an end to the strike in the liquid fuels sector is in the offing. She asserted: "I initiated meetings with both the employer and employee organisations last week to stress the importance of resolving this salary dispute as a matter of urgency."
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused South African Rugby Union deputy president Mike Stofile of placing the interests of South African rugby secondary to ”pleasing his African National Congress bosses”. ”New calls for increased racial quotas are once again tainting the Springbok squad,” DA spokesperson Donald Lee said on Monday.
Although still 117 points in the red, the JSE perked up in midday trade on Monday after news that the government would not impose a windfall tax on petrochemicals giant Sasol. The local bourse received added support from signs that global markets were beginning to turn around after last week’s huge sell-offs.
Darfur rebel factions meeting in Tanzania have reached a common negotiating position and want ”final” talks on peace with Sudan’s government within months, United Nations and African Union mediators said on Monday. The rebels had been meeting over the weekend in a Tanzanian luxury resort in Arusha.