Wikinews Shorts: October 18, 2009

Family shot dead in South Africa
At least three people, all part of the same family, are dead after their bodies were discovered in their home in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa. All died as a result of gunshot wounds.

The dead include a mother, who was a police officer for Pretoria, her three-month-old baby, and 12-year-old son. The son managed to survive the incident, but died earlier Saturday while undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Police say the ex-husband discovered the bodies at around 1:00 p.m. local time. The officer's gun was found next to her body. An investigation is ongoing, but burglary has been ruled out.

Update: It has been confirmed, double murder, suicide.

Sources

Botswana Democratic Party claims victory in elections
Botswana's Democratic Party (BDP) is claiming to be the winner in the nation's elections. Ian Khama is likely to be reelected as leader of the nation and will serve a five year term. This was his first election since he was appointed in April, replacing Festus Mogae.

The BDP needed to win at least 29 out of the 57 seats to choose Khama as the nation's president.

Sources

UK Royal Mail to hire 30,000 more workers
The UK Royal Mail has announced that 30,000 temporary workers are to be recruited. The move comes as the Communication Workers Union plan to have two nationwide strikes over the course of next week. With Christmas also approaching, the amount of mail that the Royal Mail receives will be rapidly increased, and the amount of workers at this time of year that will be recruited is 30,000 - twice as many as there were last year. The Royal Mail had said that 85,000 people had applied for temporary work.

Sources