Thirty-one people died in hospital following the explosion of a tanker truck in northern Benin, bringing the total dead to more than sixty, a local hospital official said on Friday. The accident occurred late on Wednesday, when a tanker truck transporting fuel to Mali overturned near the town of Porga, around 500km north of Benin’s commercial capital, Cotonou.
Just how much time former Enron chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling spend in prison could hinge on how much of the more than -billion lost in the company’s crash is deemed their responsibility. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the felons easily face more than 20 years in prison if investor loss tied to their actions exceeds -million or more.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) should explain why it postponed a documentary on President Thabo Mbeki scheduled to be screened last week. This was the view of the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom of Expression Institute, which issued separate statements on Friday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has always been given a warm welcome in the United States, where he is seen as a doggedly loyal, eloquent ally. But on this, possibly his last trip to Washington as prime minister, the affection seemed to be accompanied with sympathy.
Arcelor, the pan-European steel group, on Friday torpedoed Mittal’s latest hostile takeover bid by buying Russia’s Severstal in an agreed €13-billion deal designed to create an ”unrivalled global champion” out of reach of its Indian-owned predator.
A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Central Java province early on Saturday, flattening buildings and killing at least 309 people, hospitals and officials said. Scores of other people were injured. The 6,2-magnitude quake also triggered heightened activity in the region’s deadly Mount Merapi volcano, which has been spewing out clouds of hot ash, gas and lava.
United States-based company LifeGem has developed a way to turn the remains of your loved one into a diamond in about 24 weeks. It does this by extracting carbon from the ashes of the body, subjecting it to intense heat to create graphite and then placing it in a special diamond press which replicates the awesome forces deep within the Earth.
The South African economy has shown resilience by withstanding a 144c petrol price increase over the past two years, but production costs threaten a benign outlook, figures released recentl show. Statistics South Africa reported that inflation excluding mortgage rates rose 3,7% in April. This was slightly below forecast.
The battle for control of Cape Town goes to the streets of Tafelsig — a poor coloured suburb of Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats — in less than a fortnight in what is becoming a contest between mayor Helen Zille and the Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille. Although the two are not candidates in the June 7 municipal by-election, both parties are investing heavily in the election.
The SABC is fumbling nervously through its Unauthorised documentary series, which critics charge is anything but "unauthorised". Following last week’s controversial last-minute canning of the documentary on President Thabo Mbeki, sources have told the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> that SABC management has interfered with other films in the series.