Typhoon Chanchu barrelled towards Hong Kong and southern China on Tuesday after claiming at least 41 lives in the Philippines and becoming the strongest storm on record to enter the South China sea in May. In Hong Kong, officials have cautioned people to take precautions against strong winds and flooding.
The Tour d’Afrique, the world’s toughest cycling race, which stretches from Cairo to Cape Town and covers 10 African countries over a distance of 12Â 000km, crossed the official finish line on Saturday in Cape Town. Sixty-three intrepid cyclists representing 12 countries rode into the V&A Waterfront after a gruelling 96 days of cycling.
Zimbabwe’s agriculture minister has predicted that the country will harvest its total annual requirement of 1,8-million tonnes of maize, contradicting aid agencies who believe that well below that amount will be reaped, reports said on Tuesday. Joseph Made told a Parliamentary portfolio committee that this year’s harvest would ”significantly improve” .
Inspired by the human cannonball of circus fame, United States defence researchers have patented a device to fire police officers, firefighters or special forces to the top of a five-storey building in less than two seconds, New Scientist reported on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people have gathered to pay their respects to the former public works minister Stella Sigcau at the Qawukeni Great Place in the Transkei on Tuesday morning. South African President Thabo Mbeki is to deliver the eulogy. Sigcau’s body has been lying in state at her home ahead of the official funeral.
American oil companies stand to gain in competing for access to oil reserves in Libya by the restoration of normal diplomatic relations and the removal of Moammar Gadaffi’s regime from a United States list of terrorism sponsors. The diplomacy that led to the renewal of ties with the North African country, which were severed in 1980, could also serve as an example to Iran.
A seriously injured truck driver was trapped inside her vehicle for about 10 hours following an accident outside Kyalami in Johannesburg, emergency services said on Tuesday. Her vehicle’s airbag possibly deployed as she was driving, knocking her unconscious and causing her to drive off the road.
Indian eunuchs have started issuing their own photo-identity cards in a battle for business with ”fake” transsexuals who have muscled in on their begging operations. Eunuchs say many men are dressing up as women and are involved in small-time crime and use more aggressive tactics to collect cash.
Two armed, masked men burst into a town hall north of Paris, taking 13 municipal councillors hostage and demanding tickets for Wednesday’s Champions League football final, officials said on Tuesday. ”As grotesque as it may seem, it appears that these people came with the intention of getting hold of places for the Champions League,” the police department said.
The JSE was off its worst levels by midday on Tuesday as some bargain hunting emerged after the all-share index fell over 800 points, or 3,7%, on Monday. The gold-mining index, which was off 4% earlier, had come back and by midday was 2,87% lower. By 11.53am, the all-share index had shed 0,92%, with the platinum-mining index down 3,58% and resources off 1,95%.