A German man making a routine trip to the police station to reclaim his stolen car ended up being busted for drunken driving twice in the same day, police said on Wednesday. In order to claim the recovered car, the 45-year-old had driven to the station in another vehicle, police in the western city of Marburg said.
Springbok captain John Smit confirmed on Wednesday that he is to join French club Clermont-Ferrand following the Rugby World Cup. A statement from the South African Rugby Union said that Smit had signed a two-year contract from 2008 to June 2009. Smit (29) has led the Springboks a record 42 times in his 67 caps and will lead South Africa at the Rugby World Cup.
Recent floods in Asia and Britain and heatwaves in southern Europe show the world must be better prepared to cope with the impact of climate change, the United Nations’s top disaster-prevention official said on Wednesday. ”We cannot wait to be taken by surprise,” said Salvano Briceno, director of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
Basic commodities had all but disappeared from some shop shelves in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, a day after the authorities ordered a drastic 50% price slash. A snap survey in several supermarkets in Harare showed that bread, milk, flour and cooking oil were no longer on the shelves.
Tony Blair prepared on Wednesday to hand the British premiership to Gordon Brown after 10 years in office, as speculation grew he was to become a Middle East envoy. The formal handover was scheduled to take place at Queen Elizabeth II’s official London residence at Buckingham Palace.
Twenty-eight people were arrested during a protest outside municipal offices in Boipatong, near Vanderbijlpark, on Wednesday, police said. About 50 disgruntled municipal contract workers had been burning tyres and stoning police because they did not want their three-month contracts to end, Captain William Mcera said.
Johannesburg’s first real snowfall in more than 20 years and the freezing temperatures that accompanied it claimed at least one life on Wednesday morning. Motorists were warned to avoid all passes in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday due to snowfalls, the South African Weather Service said.
The World Bank has approved an -million credit to help Kenya in its fight against Aids, which the government says kills hundreds of people daily. The money will be used to improve governance in the state-run National Aids Control Council, which coordinates activities of NGOs involved in the fight against Aids. Some of the money will also be given as grants to NGOs.
World number four Adam Scott will defend his Singapore Open title in November, with world number five Vijay Singh and world number six Ernie Els attempting to dethrone him. The golfing big guns are heading to the city-state with prize money for the tournament at the newly renovated Serapong course at Sentosa Golf Club boosted by -million.
Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, on Wednesday in their biggest raid in the Gaza Strip since Hamas Islamists took over the territory two weeks ago, medical workers and residents said. The operation in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Younis appeared to signal that Israel intended to keep strong military pressure on Hamas.