Oh hey, that V-for-Vendetta-themed hacker collective is back, this time with a 1,7 GB lump of data that they claim “used to belong to the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics.” The file was uploaded to the Pirate Bay yesterday, and allegedly contains “internal emails, and the entire database dump.”
So there was a NATO summit ongoing in Chicago over the weekend – which naturally attracts a couple of protest groups, members from the “Occupy” movement among them. It also attracted police and Homeland Security, who proceeded to handcuff protesters, detain them at gunpoint, and ram into a crowd of them with a van.
The SAPS have issued a stern warning against persons taking the law into their own hands. This is following the necklacing of a 32 year-old man in Khayelitsha over the weekend. The man was out on bail, and was suspected of the theft of a cellphone.
Richard Mdluli, South Africa’s former crime intelligence boss yesterday “evaded” the serving of court papers by the legal rights group, Freedom Under Law (FUL).
Earlier we reported that Rebekah Brooks, the ex-News of the World editor, and her husband, Charlie Brooks, had been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Another four people have also been charged. Rebekah and her husband have come out fighting however, and have called the charges “weak and unjust”.
News has just emerged that Former News Of The World editor, Rebekah Brooks, and her racehorse trainer husband Charlie Brooks, have been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the phone-hacking scandal.
South African police are not the public’s favourite people despite much of the great work that they do. Recently, stories of police brutality, corruption in the police force have emerged – do I even need to mention Bheki Cele? So when someone finds themselves behind bars for 18 months – for all the wrong reasons, it’s nice to see that something is done about it.
This morning the Treasury issued a report in which it recommended that the SAPS reduce staff by 9 000. In a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world, the recommendation seems questionable at best.
Yesterday, news reports surfaced about a schoolboy who was allegedly sexually assaulted with a broom and a banana. The incident took place during an Edgemead High School rugby tour. Even though authorities have opted not to prosecute anyone, Childline is campaigning for legal steps to be taken against the school and the coach who was charge when the alleged events took place.
As the total number of rhino poached in the Kruger National Park reaches 130, it’s nice to read news like this. SANParks has reported that two suspects have been arrested, and one killed, in a shoot out in the Crocodile Bridge section of Kruger.
A short while ago, Jessica Leandra dos Santos and Tshidi Thamana seemed to try to apologise for their recent actions, as well as form some kind of friendship. But Itumeleng Mabeba, a man at the centre of hate speech allegations for sending a very disturbing tweet, has claimed his Twitter account was hacked. His employer is also instituting an internal disciplinary process against him.
News has recently come to light revealing disturbing details of a 16-year old boy who was raped while on a school rugby tour. The incident was part of an elaborate initiation process which clearly went horribly astray, all of which was recorded on cellphones.
Politicians reacted angrily at the decision to move Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli out of his crime intelligence position yesterday. A collective feeling amongst opposition parties was that this was simply not good enough, and that Mdluli should be suspended again.
We had been wondering what might have been stolen from advocate Muzi Sikhakhane’s home in Northcliff, Jozi, last month. Sikhakhane is acting in a matter against controversial police crime intelligence boss, Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli. Turns out, one of the documents stolen was an affidavit penned by Tokyo Sexwale, which accused Mdluli of abusing state resources.
Whoops. Not the smartest move there, VoucherDigg. When you’re advertising a discount trip to Portugal, a picture of a world famous kidnapped toddler is probably not your best bet. Click through to see the screengrabs of the website, as well as the family’s response.
One of President Jacob Zuma’s many sons, Edward, is being sued for R1,5 million by Functions for Africa CC. The company says Edward still owes them the shortfall from his lavish wedding that cost R2,5 million at Tala Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal last year.
47 Ethiopian men were rescued on the weekend from being sold into slavery by a human-trafficking syndicate in Limpopo. Snatched for ransom, those whose families can’t pay, have their relatives unwillingly sold into slavery in SA. The United Nations now estimates that there are more than 27 million slaves in the world.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, along with three other Frenchmen, have been accused of gang rape. Judges in charge of the investigation into a prostitution ring involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn now face two options: dismiss the new allegations, or bring charges of gang rape against them. It’s likely that the charges will stick.
Osama Bin Laden is all over the news again, not bad for someone who has been dead and gone for quite some time now. Today sees the disclosure of documents seized at his compound. It is also a great opportunity for those looking for a keepsake to get in on the ground floor – the bricks from his compound are going on sale.
On World Press Freedom Day, the highly acclaimed writer, and Nobel Prize winner for literature, Nadine Gordimer, called for the Protection of Information Bill to be “rejected in its entirety.” She launched the scathing rebuttal in an article entitled, “South Africa: The New Threat to Freedom”, on the New York Review of Books website.
A South African man is being used as a bargaining tool by terrorist organisation, al-Qaeda. The 36-year-old SA national, who also has a British citizenship and whose name has not been revealed, was abducted in Mali last year by members of al-Qaeda. His freedom is now being offered, but only in exchange for Britain’s release of the militant Jordanian preacher, Abu Qatada.
South Africa’s next poaching epidemic could emanate out of the trade in lion body parts. Lion bones are being used as a replacement for tiger bones to concoct traditional Asian medicines like tiger brew wine because of the demise of the region’s tiger populations. Lion are already being poached in the northern section of the Kruger National Park.
Oh awesome, this makes total sense. The UK’s Ministry of Defense is planning to install surface-to-air missiles on top of residential flats in east London for the duration of the Olympic Games. The bulk of the missile array is intended for the Lexington Building Water Tower, which has about 700 people living in and around it.
It’s been the rhetorical question on everyone’s lips for quite some time: will Cricket South Africa ever get the unlawful bonus money back from those who received it? There seems to be a chance that they will. CSA is attempting to recover R3,3 million from suspended chief executive, Gerald Majola and former chief operating officer, Don McIntosh.
CISPA – the ugly cousin of other internet-crippling bills SOPA and PIPA, whether Facebook admits it or not – passed late last week in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. Worse, the bill was amended before it passed to allow even more types of private information to be tapped and shared by government agencies in the US.
The trial of ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor at the Hague has come to an end with a guilty verdict in all of the eleven counts against him after nearly five years of proceedings. Taylor is the first African leader to stand trial for war crimes at the U.N.-backed International Criminal Court.
While on her way back from school on Monday afternoon, an 8-year girl was pulled into a sugarcane field by a 15-year old male learner, where she was brutally raped and mutilated and left for dead.
Remember the auction of Khulubuse Zuma’s possessions we covered on Monday? Well, it appears Khulubuse Zuma has some more cars that the Sheriff of Verulam missed. Fifteen to be exact, hidden at a house owned by one of Zuma’s associates. We’ve got the details on the hidden luxury wheels, not to mention some more of Sarah Britten’s thoughts on the matter, after the jump!
We all knew that they were going to be bad, but to be told that one in four of Jozi’s drivers were asked for a bribe in 2010 is quite something. 154 440 motorists were asked to pay a bribe, but only 184 cases of corruption were reported.
This morning a man was shot in the neck outside the Cape High Court, and is currently fighting for his life. His attackers are unknown and immediately fled the scene. According to people who know the victim, he was attending a murder trial involving five members of the Junky Funkie Gang.