DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu has warned other parties they're not “immune to political killings”. 

He released the Moerane Commission report into political killings on Thursday.

Mchunu says the report's recommendations do not only apply to the ANC.

The party says it first needs to study the report before responding to it.

Mchunu will table the report before the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg.

READ: Something rotten in the criminal justice system

At least 100 people have died in political violence in the province since 2011.

The report, entitled 'Something is Rotten in The State of Denmark', referencing a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, lays the blame at the feet of the South African criminal justice system.

The commission recommends that the State depoliticises the entire criminal justice system and suggests a review of security agencies by an inter-ministerial task team.

Commission chairperson Marumo Moerane also stated in the report that the underlying causes of political killings are present in all provinces.

He recommended the report be escalated to the National Cabinet.  

WASHINGTON - An unidentified assailant opened fire on Thursday at a warehouse complex north of the US city of Baltimore, killing and wounding multiple people, authorities said.

A lone suspect was in critical condition at a local hospital, according to Harford County sheriff Jeffrey Gahler.

Police would not confirm reports that the shooter was a woman, but revealed that the suspect had not been shot by police.

"I can confirm multiple wounded and multiple fatalities," Gahler said.

US media reported that three people were killed and two others wounded in the incident, which erupted around 9am at a distribution centre for the Rite Aid drugstore chain.

Gahler said the assailant apparently was armed with a single handgun "and no shots fired by any officers responding to the scene."

"We do not believe there is an additional threat anywhere to the Harford County community," he said.

Deadly shootings are common in the United States, where the right to bear arms is protected by the US constitution.

Attacks by women are extremely rare, however, accounting for less than five percent of the total, according to studies.    

Thursday's attack came five months after an Iran-born female animal rights activist gunned down three people before killing herself at YouTube's California headquarters.

Maryland made grim headlines around the world in June when five employees of Capital-Gazette newspapers died after a gunman stormed their Annapolis office. 

The man police say is responsible had harassed the newspapers' employees for years over an article about criminal stalking charges against him, the Baltimore Sun reported.

CAPE TOWN - Various communities in Cape Town are calling on the president to deal with escalating crime in their respective communities.

Some of them, led by various religious leaders, marched to Parliament on Thursday, pleading for change in the face of rising gangsterism, murder, rape and other crimes.

READ: Crime stats: Murder, sexual crimes rise

There were also prayers for peace in areas identified as hot spots.

Some of the marchers believe there should be a multi-pronged approach to fighting crime including harsher sentences for serious crimes, more political intervention to address socio-economic disparities, and an end to complicity in civil society.

 

JOHANNESBURG - A meeting is being held to decide on steps to be taken in order to stop the abuse of people's belief systems. 

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural and Religious rights (CRL) has drafted a code of conduct for religious leaders.

Prominent religious leader pastor Ray McCauley has joined the call for the regulation of churches. 

"It has become very very important for the church to stand up now. It has gotten out of control and so bad in our country."

APE TOWN - A memorial service was held for eight workers killed earlier this month at the Rheinmetall Denel munitions factory.

The explosion took place at the factory in Somerset West.

READ: Families to receive remains of the eight killed in Denel explosion

Families had to wait more a than a week for DNA testing to be done before the victims were identified.

Forensic pathologist Johan Dempers says the state the bodies were found in, will remain private.

JOHANNESBURG - Ajay Gupta has denied ever meeting Mcebisi Jonas in Saxonwold on 23 October 2015. 

WATCH: Mcebisi Jonas testifies at state capture inquiry

In an affidavit submitted to the State Capture Commission, Ajay Gupta says he was at the Oakbay offices in Sandton at the time.

He says cellphone records given to the Public Protector in 2016, are evidence of this.

WATCH: Zondo rejects option to travel abroad to hear Guptas' evidence

On day three of the inquiry, Jonas gave details of a meeting with the Gupta brother.

He also testified that Ajay Gupta offered him R600-million and the position of Finance Minister.

Gupta denies offering him the money and claims he didn't have any influence over the appointment of any cabinet members.  

THE HAGUE - Four children from a Dutch daycare centre were killed on Thursday when a train hit their electric cargo bike at a level crossing, police said on Thursday.

A fifth child and a woman were also critically injured in the accident in Oss, a town near the German border around 110 kilometres southeast of the capital Amsterdam.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted his condolences from an EU summit in Salzburg, Austria, over a tragedy that has shaken the cycling-mad country.

"Deeply affected by the incredibly sad news from Oss where four young children have died in a horrible accident. I wish everyone involved much strength with this heavy loss," Rutte said.

Cargo bikes -- bikes with a large box on the front used for carrying children or shopping -- are a common sight in the Netherlands, where cycling is a way of life.

Police confirmed that the train collided with the three-wheeler bike on a crossing as it was taking children from the daycare centre to drop them off at local schools.

The ANP news agency reported that the children were between four and 11 years old, although there was no immediate official confirmation of their ages. 

ANP, quoting people who know the woman who drove the bike, said she had just dropped some children at one school and was heading to another.

It was the sixth such accident at the crossing since 1975, it added.

NAGA, Philippines - Six people were killed and dozens are missing after a landslide unleashed by monsoon rains struck in the central Philippines Thursday, inflicting more misery on the already storm-battered nation.

The new tragedy comes just days after 2018's most powerful storm, Typhoon Mangkhut, pounded the nation's north with heavy winds and rain, sparking a separate landslide that left dozens dead.

Emergency workers in helmets and locals with shovels rushed to search for survivors of the new disaster, which happened in the village of Tina-an on the popular tourist island of Cebu.

Days of heavy monsoon rains caused a steep slope of crumbly limestone to collapse and crash into at least 10 homes early Thursday when many people would still have been in bed.

READ: Frantic dig for Philippine victims of typhoon landslide

Injured survivors were wheeled into the back of ambulances and the dead were laid on pews at a local church.

"There are 64 missing. Six are confirmed dead. Nine were injured... these are minor injuries," civil defence spokesman Julius Regner told AFP.

"There are more than 100 rescuers on the site. They are using backhoes (excavators) and other heavy equipment," he added.

Civil defence officials in the region said landslides are fairly rare on Cebu, an elongated island with low hills.

As Thursday's search for survivors unfolded, efforts continued in the hunt for bodies in the mining area of Itogon in the mountainous north of the Philippines, which was the area worst hit by the typhoon.

Most of those killed in the storm died in landslides in the Cordillera range, which includes Itogon and other towns in a region known for gold mining.

Police said on Thursday that the death toll rose to 88, primarily due to corpses recovered from the Itogon slide.

Mangkhut swamped fields in the nation's agricultural north and smashed houses when it tore through at the weekend.

Itogon is one of the country's oldest mining hubs, with known gold panning activity stretching back to before the 17th-century Spanish colonial conquest.

Thousands of people from all over the country still flock to the upland town seeking their fortune in largely unregulated mining, which is accompanied by periodic deadly accidents.

JOHANNESBURG - Parts of Johannesburg were facing a second day without water on Thursday. 

At the same time, new water supply issues were being experienced in more parts of the city on Thursday. 

In August, large parts of Johannesburg were without water for days following an explosion of an electricity sub-station at a water pumping facility. 

This week, Gauteng battled heat wave conditions with the City warning that high water consumption in this time could lead to water restrictions. 

READ: It's getting hot out there, but water restrictions remain in Joburg

JOHANNESBURG - Former president Jacob Zuma approached the North Gauteng High Court on Thursday, to seek permission to appeal a cost order.

Zuma wants to appeal a ruling ordering him to personally pay R10-million in legal costs.

He was successful in his legal bid, with the court granting his application. 

READ: State capture does not exist, says Zuma

Zuma incurred the costs when he tried to stop the release of former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report. 

The former president was applying for leave to appeal the ruling in his personal capacity.