At least 2 148 people were executed in 2005 despite the majority of the world’s countries having abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. Among those put to death were children and people with mental disabilities.
An Ethiopian court on Tuesday postponed its verdict in the marathon genocide trial of former dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam until next year, saying it had to consider new defence evidence. After 12 years of hearing testimony and evidence, the court heard that the long-awaited ruling would be delayed until January 23 2007.
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has taken a cautious stance on what he termed growing imbalances in world markets, noting that South Africa’s rand currency saw "a lot of movement" in one day on Monday. He was addressing the National Assembly finance portfolio committee during the National Treasury budget vote briefing.
Kenya’s famed lion prides could be driven to extinction because ritual killings by tribal warriors are decimating their ranks in and around the country’s protected game reserves, wildlife experts warned on Tuesday. The findings were immediately dismissed by members of the Maasai tribe, which is blamed for most of the deaths among the country’s dwindling lion population.
The search for an unidentified object that apparently crashed into the sea at Port Shepstone on Saturday will resume at the weekend as there were no bodies to search for, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Tuesday. ”The NSRI’s core business is rescuing people and here there is no loss of life involved,” said NSRI Shelley Beach station commander Eddie Noyons.
After its 2,76% fall on Monday, which capped seven days of losses, the JSE was back in the black in noon trade on Tuesday, supported by a more positive global picture and a recovery in commodity prices. The market remained cautious, however, due to uncertainty as to whether the recovery would be sustained.
Oil prices jumped above the $70 level in Asian trade on Tuesday as experts forecast a potentially devastating Atlantic hurricane season that could push prices to the $100 mark, dealers said. At 2.30pm local time, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, was up 29 cents at $70,25 a barrel.
Trevor Phillips, ”The British Bulldog”, will leave the Premier Soccer League (PSL) when his contract expires in November — muzzled, it would seem, by what the forthright CEO described on Monday as a post with ”enormous responsibility and relatively limited authority”. Phillips believes he will be leaving the PSL ”on a sound footing”.
Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana has called on trade unions representing striking security guards and employers to resume negotiations, the government news agency, BuaNews, reported on Tuesday. Mdladlana said he had been asked to intervene in the impasse over wages and working conditions in the security industry. But, he said, according to the law he could not do so.
Juan Rios shrugged as he carved out a juicy tenderloin from a 2,5m alligator that was brought to him bound and gagged but still kicking. The gator scare that has swept Florida ”was long overdue,” says Rios (42) throwing the choice cut into a bloody bucketful of meat that only a few hours ago was a potentially deadly animal.