Yeehaw! Texans who brag they do things bigger and better now can go faster too. State transportation officials on Thursday boosted speed limits on two stretches of rural highway from 75mph (121kph) to 80mph (129kph) — the United States’s highest posted speed limit.
Scientists searching for the origin of HIV, the global pandemic infecting more than 40-million people, believe they have finally tracked its original source to two colonies of chimpanzees in a corner of Cameroon. The finding represents the culmination of a 10-year hunt for the source of the pandemic.
Israel has authorised the transfer of weapons to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel Army Radio reported on Friday. Defence Minister Amir Peretz made the decision after a ”rise” in intelligence alerts that radical or rival Palestinians could assassinate the moderate president, the radio said.
The house, on the outskirts of East Timor’s capital, was turned into a mere shell. The six people inside — five women and a child — were little more than burnt and broken skeletons. Attackers came in the middle of the night, broke the windows of the concrete dwelling, doused it in petrol and set it ablaze.
Former executives of Japan’s once-high-flying internet firm Livedoor admitted on Friday to fraud allegations as they went on trial for a scandal that rocked Japan’s financial and political circles. The four executives wore dark suits and looked humbly at the ground as prosecutors read charges of hiding financial losses.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will on Friday in a foreign-policy address at Georgetown University call for a return to a multilateral approach to global affairs built around a radically reformed United Nations led by a powerful secretary general, in a bid to salvage his legacy as a progressive leader on the world stage.
Nadia Petrova laughs a lot these days, and giggles, too. For the past two years, during which her fellow Russians have all won grand slam titles, Petrova has frequently represented the somewhat stern face of her country’s amazing and uplifting rise to the top of women’s tennis — but not any more.
The Cape High Court ruled on Thursday that a man who raped his niece about 50 years ago should pay R450 000 for damages caused, the Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) said. Acting director Mary Caesar said the WLC is ”very pleased” that Esme van Zijl’s claim against her uncle, Imker Marais Hoogenhout, was successful.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is not being investigated by the Scorpions, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) reacted on Friday to a claim in the Mail & Guardian. The M&G reported on Friday that Selebi was linked to a ”shadowy” network of figures associated with slain businessman Brett Kebble.
The Competition Commission on Thursday referred a complaint of anti-competitive behaviour against Sasol to the Competition Tribunal. Profert Limited’s complaint against Sasol Chemical Industries was referred on the grounds that the latter was found to have contravened the Competition Act, commission spokesperson Liziwe Konyana said.