The United States government has secretly monitored banking transactions around the globe since the September 11 2001 attacks, officials said on Friday, defending the programme as a crucial part of the war on terror. It is the latest in a series of covert measures that is likely to spark fresh concerns about potential privacy infringements and Americans’ civil liberties.
The United States military is relying ever more on space satellites to help wage combat in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, though analysts say that Washington’s space supremacy could be threatened by rivals in the future. The Pentagon is using sophisticated satellites that orbit Earth in a bid to track down its enemies and keep a round-the-clock watch on unfriendly foes.
Businessman Patrice Motsepe will be stepping down from his high-level position in business organisations to concentrate on black empowerment. He made the announcement at a media briefing on Friday after the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce’s (Nafcoc) two-day biannual national conference.
An historian is leading a search for a handgun that Nelson Mandela buried at a farm outside Johannesburg before his arrest by apartheid police in 1962, the owner of the site said on Friday. Nicholas Wolpe, the founder of the Liliesleaf Trust said the gun was of tremendous historical value.
Security has been beefed up on South African trains to deal with possible incidents of violence following the ending of the nationwide security workers’ strike, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said on Friday. Speaking to the media in Cape Town, the minister said that government is concerned that many security workers "are armed".
Marijuana users in West Hollywood are breathing easier after the city passed a resolution to deprioritise policing of pot infractions. ”This is just another nail in the coffin of marijuana prohibition,” said Bruce Margolin, a pioneer in pro-marijuana legislation.
Few icons are as American as the cowboy hat: grandiose, utilitarian and a trademark of the West. The king is still Stetson, the original cowboy hat, created almost 150 years ago. Philadelphia’s John B Stetson headed west in the 1860s for health reasons. He fashioned himself a big hat to protect him from rain, sun and wind which he dubbed the ”Boss of the Plains”.
FBI agents have arrested at least seven people in Miami who reportedly plotted to attack the Chicago Sears Tower skyscraper, according to official statements and news reports. The arrests on Thursday were ”part of an ongoing investigation into a terrorist-related matter,” said the United States attorney’s office in Miami.
Music today defies labelling and looks can be deceiving — not all reggae artists are black, Dorian Lynskey takes a closer look.
The rand fell on Friday to the lowest point against the United States dollar since January 2004, a day after the South African government announced a multi-year record deficit for the country’s current account. In European trade in London, the rand fell as low as $0,1328 — a level last seen on January 16 2004. By early afternoon in London, it stood at $0,1331.