A United Airlines flight from Australia to Los Angeles returned to Sydney International airport late on Tuesday afternoon after staff on board found a note carrying a bomb threat, Australia’s transport minister said. Roads leading to the airport also reportedly were closed off during the emergency.
France’s first gay marriage — performed last month in the southwest city of Bordeaux — was officially declared void by a court on Tuesday. The judge sided with the conservative government by ruling that the June 5 wedding between a shopkeeper and a male nurse was not allowed under French law.
As the muddy brown flood waters began to recede in the northeastern Indian state of Assam on Tuesday, government officials warned of the threat of water-borne diseases. Meanwhile, flood waters that have submerged two-thirds of Bangladesh leaving 30-million people cut off or homeless will not recede for at least a week, experts warned.
The Eastern Cape soccer referee who allegedly shot and killed a coach and injured two players during a dispute over a decision is still on the run, Grahamstown police said on Tuesday. The shooting allegedly occurred during a match between the Ekuphumuleni and Marcelle soccer teams at Kenton-on-Sea on Saturday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs could still not confirm on Tuesday that South African citizens were among the suspected terrorists arrested in Pakistan on the weekend. On Monday a Pakistani newspaper reported that two South Africans were among terrorism suspects arrested after a shootout on a house in Gujarat early on Sunday.
South Africa is enjoying a high-growth and low-inflation economic environment last seen in the 1960s, but this is not reflected in investors’ portfolios, Alwyn van der Merwe, senior portfolio manager at Old Mutual Asset Managers, said on Tuesday at a media briefing in Johannesburg.
A new R5 coin with added security features was launched at the South African Mint Company in Pretoria on Tuesday in a bid to outsmart counterfeiters. The new coin, seven million of which will come into circulation next Monday, sports a silver-coloured border with a bronze-coloured centre.
Convicted murderer and rapist William Kekana told the Temba Circuit High Court on Tuesday he had murdered members of a Pretoria family because they were white. Kekana’s remark elicited a gasp from the presiding judge and the public gallery. "I found it very easy and simple to commit the crimes," Kekana said.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119316">Kekana is guilty</a>
Close to 20 000 workers in the steel and engineering industry are expected to embark on a one-day protest march in Johannesburg on Thursday. This comes after the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the Steel Engineering Industry Federation of South Africa failed to resolve a wage dispute.
Dual-listed South African telecommunications giant Telkom and the Communication Workers Union have signed a collective recognition agreement, in line with the commitment of both parties to foster a harmonious and constructive relationship going forward.