Tuesday, May 5 2020

Northern Cape police suspect two people may have died from drinking homemade beer. They died in Port Nolloth at the weekend. Brig Mohale Ramatseba said the 42-year-old woman was first to die - her body was found in their flat. “A 54-year-old man was found seriously ill. He later died in hospital,” Ramatseba said. “Two empty bottles of homemade brew have been seized for forensic tests,” he added. Police were investigating the cause of the deaths.

Nobody faces music in Love Parade trial

Germany’s Love Parade stampede trial ended without a verdict on Monday after judges found that coronavirus restrictions would make it impossible to conclude one of the nation's biggest post-war trials before the statute of limitations expired. Three people had been in the dock on charges of negligent manslaughter and causing bodily harm after the popular techno music festival ended in a catastrophic crush in 2010 that left 21 young people dead. But the long-running trial at the district court in city of Duisburg, where the disaster occurred, was now officially closed, a court spokesperson said. The case against seven others was already halted in February 2019 with the court arguing that, with so many defendants, the individual levels of guilt were difficult to assess. - AFP

Cop raid nets R3m in counterfeit cigs

Counterfeit cigarettes worth R3m were seized from a warehouse in Phoenix, north of Durban, on Sunday. Provincial economic development spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya said crime intelligence was working to identify the owners of the warehouse. The raid was part of a larger operation by the provincial economic development department, the SA Revenue Service and law enforcement in their bid to stop counterfeit goods syndicates. In Durban, a foreigner was arrested and his shop shut down for selling counterfeit medication worth millions, while another was arrested for selling expired sweets. Economic development MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube is expected to visit the harbour on Monday after fake goods worth R3m were seized there.

A little bop makes big brass go pop

Israel's military has decided to end the drafting of soldiers as dancers in its entertainment troupes after a video of two male conscripts gyrating on stage prompted criticism that their performance was unbecoming. Most Israelis are conscripted into the armed forces when they turn 18 for two to three years. A few with particular athletic or artistic skills are allowed to continue these pursuits as part of their military service. When pop stars Noa Kirel and Yonatan Margi enlisted, the military expanded the troupes they were to perform in to include back-up dancers so as to achieve more professional shows, Israel's Army Radio said. But the top brass had second thoughts after the clip circulated on social media of Kirel in her uniform singing at a base as two soldiers bopped behind her. - Reuters

Burglars take 24 laptops from Limpopo school

A manhunt has been launched after 24 laptops were stolen from a storeroom at a secondary school in Limpopo, police said. Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said the laptops were stolen from Jonathan Thifhulufhelwi Secondary School in Madombidzha village. “Prior to the burglary, the suspects reportedly cut electrical cables to disable the alarm systems.” Mojapelo said the suspects gained entry by cutting through the security gate at the storeroom. A security guard who was patrolling the school property discovered the theft. The laptops were worth an estimated R120,000. The education department said last week nearly 1,000 schools had been burgled, vandalised or set alight since the start of the lockdown.

Pawpaw president raises the baa on virus test

Coronavirus test kits used in Tanzania have been dismissed as faulty by President John Magufuli because he said they had returned positive results on samples taken from a goat and a pawpaw. Magufuli, whose government has already drawn criticism for being secretive about the coronavirus outbreak and has previously asked Tanzanians to pray the coronavirus away, said the kits had “technical errors”. The Covid-19 testing kits had been imported from abroad, Magufuli said, although he did not give further details. The president said he had instructed Tanzanian security forces to check the quality of the kits. They had randomly obtained several non-human samples, including from a pawpaw, a goat and a sheep, but had assigned them human names and ages. - Reuters