An Indian government official, hailed by Time magazine as a flood disaster hero, has disappeared after he was accused of stealing millions in aid money. Police have launched a nationwide hunt for Gautam Goswami, who was commended for ‘his brilliant’ co-ordination of rescue and relief work where floods last July claimed 800 lives and left millions homeless.
South African game ranger Sibusiso Vilane has summited Mount Everest for the second time. Vilane, who was the first black African to reach the top of Everest in May 2003, summited with fellow mountaineer Alex Harris, said Harmony Gold, which helped sponsor the expedition.
The South African senior national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, have virtually secured their ticket to the World Cup in Germany next year. Bafana, who top Group Two with 15 points, enhanced their chances when they beat the Cape Verde Islands 2-1 in their African World Cup qualifying match in Praia on Saturday night.
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After 14 weeks and more than 130 witnesses, the jury in the Michael Jackson trial finally retired on Friday to decide whether the singer was a naive victim of con artists or a predator who groomed a child for sexual acts. The 46-year-old pop singer is to wait for the verdict at his Neverland ranch, 45 minutes from the court.
A French appeal court has found the editor-in-chief of Le Monde and the authors of an opinion piece in the paper guilty of ”racial defamation” against Israel and the Jewish people. The ruling was greeted with applause by Jewish groups, but some alarm by media lawyers.
The awarding of a Rugby Super 14 franchise to the Southern and Eastern Cape must be ”non negotiable” when the SA Rugby Union’s President’s Council meets to discuss the matter on Wednesday. This is the view of the SEC bidding franchise, comprising the Border, Eastern Province and South Western Districts Rugby Unions.
Jerusalem’s city council has ordered one of the largest mass demolitions in the city’s recent history, with plans to raze the homes of about 1 000 Palestinians in a neighbourhood claimed by Jewish settlers. The council says about 90 buildings served with demolition orders were built illegally over the last three decades on a site of religious and archaeological value.
Namibia’s Herero community is pressing Germany to offer reparations for its extermination campaign against the tribe during colonial rule as its leaders opened a new history museum funded by Berlin. The museum has been criticised by the Herero chief as merely a ”public relations exercise”.
Zimbabwe’s central bank governor has admitted authorising a bank transfer by the country’s former finance minister who is on trial for corruption. Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, who is spearheading an anti-corruption drive, was speaking at the trial of Chris Kuruneri, accused of siphoning scarce foreign currency out of the country.