Tea, water and biscuits are on South Africa's recession menu to replace lavish meals at some government meetings as the belt is tightened on public spending, a spokesman said yesterday.

"Budgets that are spent on meals or food in departments, travelling, are being slashed as we speak," Themba Maseko told journalists while outlining plans in tough financial conditions.

The food budget in the state's communication department, where Mr Maseko is based, was slashed by over 80 per cent to avoid having to provide meals. "So that if there is anything you provide it will just be tea and water and some biscuits as you'll see outside here," he said.

South Africa entered its first recession in 17 years, with the economy shrinking 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, the second contraction in a row. (AFP)

Fireworks spread terror in Congo

Independence day fireworks sent terrified Congolese sprinting for cover in fear that war had broken out again in their eastern city.

Officials had organised the display in Goma on Tuesday to highlight efforts to end more than a decade of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to show a sign of normal life returning to the region, where a peace deal took hold in January.

But residents feared it was a raging gun battle.

"I hit the ground not knowing what was going on," said 23-year-old student Aminata Kavugho.

Around 5.4 million people have died as a result of Congo's 1998-2003 war and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, making it the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. (Reuters)

Pet python kills toddler

A Florida toddler was strangled on Wednesday by a 13.6-metre albino Burmese python that escaped from a holding tank in the girl's home, authorities said.

The pet's owner, a boyfriend of the child's mother, found the python on top of the two-year-old girl in the rural community of Oxford, about 80 kilometres northwest of Orlando.

The python apparently broke free in the night, entered the girl's bedroom and attacked her.

"The owner stabbed the snake when he found it on the child but she was dead when emergency crews arrived," the Orlando Sentinel newspaper said. It said he was being questioned and could face child endangerment charges.

Wildlife officials are increasingly concerned about the proliferation of non-native pythons in Florida's wilderness areas.

State officials say there may be as many as 150,000 Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, living in the wild in the Everglades, where they have no natural predator. (Reuters)

Mollie Sugden dies, aged 86

Tributes have been paid to actress Mollie Sugden, who starred in the television comedy series "Are You Being Served?", following her death at the age of 86.

Her agent Joan Reddin told newspapers Ms Sugden died on Wednesday after a long illness. "She was a lovely, lovely person. She was a great professional," Ms Reddin said.

Ms Sugden delighted millions as the battleaxe shop assistant Mrs Slocombe in the innuendo-laden BBC show.

With her hair highly coiffed and making constant references to her "pussy", Ms Sugden played the bossy sales lady throughout the programme's run between 1972 and 1985. (Reuters)

Hackers block PM's website

Hackers temporarily blocked the website of Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev yesterday, saying they were furious with his Socialist-led government's failings, local media reported.

Three days before Sunday's parliamentary election, opinion polls show two-thirds of Bulgaria's 7.6 million people want the government to go, citing its failure to tame chronic corruption and act against the global downturn.

"This site is hacked by several furious but otherwise ordinary citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria," said a note by the hackers displayed on the blocked website (www.stanishev.bg) and later published by several news agencies.

"We are fed up with you plundering Bulgaria before our eyes, damaging its natural resources and discrediting the reputation of our nation... Disgrace is a weak word for you and your deeds," it said. (Reuters)

Housewife first up for "live sculpture"

A housewife from Sleaford in Lincolnshire will be the first of thousands of people to stand for one hour on top of a plinth in London's Trafalgar Square as part of a 100-day "live sculpture" exercise.

"One & Other" is a work devised by sculptor Antony Gormley for the square's empty plinth, now a platform for temporary works of art.

The first of 2,400 people to feature in Mr Gormley's work is Rachel Wardell, a 35-year-old housewife and mother of two. Participants are chosen at random, and 14,500 people have applied so far.

Applications are still open on www.oneandother.co.uk. (Reuters)