A Tunisian airliner heading for an emergency landing in Sicily ditched into rough seas off the Mediterranean island, and at least 13 of the 39 people aboard died, Italian authorities and airline officials said. Some of the 23 survivors clung to the wing or fuselage as they screamed to rescuers.
Businessman and ANC funder Sandi Majali on Saturday lost a desperate bid to stop the Sunday Times from publishing an article about his background, the newspaper said. Majali, CEO of Imvume Management, the company at the centre of the Oilgate debacle, tried to interdict the paper from publishing details of his youth and photographs of his family home in the Eastern Cape.
As they lay dying amid the ruins of their city, the victims of the Hiroshima bomb craved one thing above all — water. On Saturday morning cups of water were brought as symbolic offerings as, 60 years to the day after the city was vapourised, Hiroshima remembered its dead.
Discovery‘s seven astronauts on Saturday carried out final preparations for their attempt to land their stricken space shuttle. In a critical manoeuvre, pilot Jim Kelly freed the shuttle from the International Space Station and inched the craft away from its docking port before firing the spaceship’s jets to reposition it for its voyage home on Monday.
Free from the British detention centre where he had been on the brink of despair, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker has £10 () to his name — not enough for the train fare needed to report to immigration officers, which could mean another trip back to detention.
South Africa’s car industry is expected to notch up record sales and exports this year, revved up by an increased purchasing power and a healthy economy, manufacturers and analysts say. More than 45 000 new cars were sold last month, up 19,4% from the same month in 2004, when new car sales hit an all-time high, from top-end imported ”supercars” to the cheapest models on the market.
Saudi Arabia officially warned Britain of an imminent terrorist attack on London just weeks ahead of the 7 July bombings after calls from one of al-Qaeda’s most wanted operatives were traced to an active cell in the United Kingdom. The Saudi official said: ”It was clear to us that there was a terror group planning an attack in the UK.”
Top-seeded Andy Roddick and unseeded James Blake won straight-set semifinal matches to advance to the final at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Saturday. Roddick beat 13th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (4), 6-2, advancing to a final for the 29th time in his career. Blake then beat 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal to reach his fourth career final.
World record-holder Jessica Hardy captured the 100m breaststroke title at the United States Swimming Championships on Saturday, edging 2000 Olympic champion Megan Quann Jendrick. Hardy (18) set the world record of 1:06.20 in the semifinals of the world championships in Montreal last week.
Springbok coach Jake White played down the ecstasy in the aftermath of his team’s nerve-racking Tri-Nations victory over the All Blacks at Newlands on Saturday. While the 49 118 fans crammed into Newlands erupted at the final whistle to celebrate one of the Boks’ finest performances in recent memory, White preferred to remain focussed. After failing to gain a bonus point from their two home matches, the Boks will, in all likelihood, need a rare away victory if they hope to retain the trophy — a point that is not lost on the coac