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/ 7 December 2006
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) was the big winner in the last round of by-elections to take place this year, claiming all but one of the 12 wards contested in results. The municipal by-elections on Wednesday were marked by low voter turnouts, with an 11% turnout at ward three in Mbolela (Nelspruit).
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/ 7 December 2006
A small but severe tornado hit a residential area of north-west London on Thursday, injuring six people, ripping roofs off homes and tearing down walls. Television footage showed a trail of destruction in Kensal Rise, with trees uprooted and cars damaged by falling debris. Tornadoes are very rare in British cities.Local resident Daniel Bidgood was in his house when the tornado, which he said was about 20m, smashed his windows.
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/ 7 December 2006
The purchase by black-empowered Afripalm of a stake in Mvelaphanda Resources has injected new transaction clout into the company, which has been deal starved for more than two years. Mvela, currently an investment company, could now get the operator status it seeks to reduce the discount to net asset value at which it trades.
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/ 7 December 2006
Haute cuisine may seem a contradiction in terms on a continent where millions go hungry. But Coco Fathi Reinharz, a half-Belgian, half-Burundian chef, is at the vanguard of a new African fine dining movement that is ditching stodgy, tasteless peasant food for sophisticated dishes with an exotic twist.
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/ 7 December 2006
The Cabinet has denied having influenced the Gautrain consortium selection and defended the right of all citizens, including members of the government, to participate in the economy. At its final fortnightly meeting of the year on Wednesday, the Cabinet noted media reports alleging a conflict of interest when it discussed the Gautrain project.
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/ 7 December 2006
Seventeen prisoners escaped from police cells in KwaMhlanga and Dennilton in Mpumalanga, police said on Thursday. In Dennilton, nine men cut their way out of their cell in the early hours of Wednesday, spokesperson Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said in a statement.
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/ 7 December 2006
Nigerian gunmen in about seven speedboats attacked an Agip oil export terminal in the Niger Delta early on Thursday, kidnapping three Italian workers and killing a local youth, authorities said. The gunmen tried to storm Agip’s Brass terminal, which exports about 200Â 000 barrels per day, at 5am local time.
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/ 7 December 2006
Major oil companies are scrambling for oil off the shores of Madagascar, which has rich mineral reserves and huge quantities of gemstones, including an estimated 70% of the world’s sapphires. The former French colony is the world’s biggest exporter of vanilla and occupies a strategic position off the volatile African coast, 400km to the west.
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/ 7 December 2006
South Africa’s Cabinet appears to have poured cold water on a basic income grant — called for recently by Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya — turning instead to ways to find ”exit strategies” to reduce reliance on social grants. Spokesperson Themba Maseko said the Cabinet had noted a proposal for linking social grants to poverty alleviation initiatives and other economic activities.
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/ 7 December 2006
Israel will continue to keep mum on whether it has atomic weapons, officials said on Thursday after the incoming United States defence secretary described the Jewish state as a nuclear power. "Israel won’t say, or not say, whether we have nuclear weapons," Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told public radio. "It suffices that one fears that we have them and that fear … constitutes an element of dissuasion."