The naked body of man was found lying next to the railway line between Sharon Park and Dunottar on Johannesburg’s East Rand, police said on Monday. Spokesperson Superintendent Andy Pieke said the body — in the early stages of decomposition — had wounds indicating he may have been thrown off a moving train.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from the slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi as lava flows spread further down the slopes of the volcano on Tuesday, officials said. The volcano alert was put on red on May 13 but residents have been particularly nervous since a deadly earthquake rocked the region 10 days ago.
According to the National Youth Victimisation Study 2005, 4,3-million youngsters were assaulted, robbed or sexually assaulted — or fell victim to other crimes such as housebreaking, theft or car hijacking — in the year since September 2004.
Recent weeks have seen several newspaper headlines about violent incidents at schools. These violent outbursts among children are not isolated incidents. In reality, most crimes are committed by young offenders. ”Estimates talk about 60% to 80%,” says Amanda Dissel, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
The JSE was deluged with red just before noon on Tuesday, knocked by the double whammy of weaker world markets and lower commodity prices. A related sell-off in heavyweight resources stocks in London exacerbated the bourse’s woes. By 11.57am, the-all share index tumbled 2,14%.
About 1 000 people in trucks and on motorcycles converged outside the offices of unpopular East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri on Tuesday to demand his resignation. More than 40 trucks carrying about 20 people each plus hundreds more on motorcycles reached the government offices on the Dili waterfront.
The Pentagon is drafting a new rulebook for military interrogators which omits the Geneva convention ban on ”humiliating and degrading treatment”, it was reported on Monday. According to the Los Angeles Times, the army field manual on interrogation has not been finalised, and state department lawyers are fighting to have the convention protections restored.
United States President George Bush declared his backing for a ban on gay marriage on Monday in what sceptics said was part of a broad campaign to win back disillusioned conservatives and divert attention from the Iraq war. With five months to go before congressional elections, Bush and his party have slumped in the polls and have been pummelled by the flow of bad news from Iraq.
The Times newspaper, aiming to increase its online audience by supplying video news clips, said on Tuesday it planned to launch an internet television service this week. Third-party providers will initially provide news clips for the new service, Times TV, which plans in the longer term to encourage its readers to contribute newsworthy videos, the British daily said.
The lawless Somali capital fractured along clan lines on Tuesday as members of a United States-backed warlord alliance sought refuge with traditional elders and vowed to resist Islamist control. A day after Mogadishu’s 11 Islamic courts claimed victory over the warlords in four months of fierce fighting, surrender talks were at a stalemate and the city appeared deeply divided.