Zimbabwe killings: a local eyewitness. A Crikey reader passes on this correspondence from a friend in Harare. It’s disturbing stuff:

“The farmer who was killed is [removed]. His nephew says that thieves entered the house through an upstairs window. Without making any demands they immediately set about  killing Mr [removed] with an iron bar. He died almost immediately. Then they asked for money. Mrs [removed] unlocked the safe. There was no money in it. They then ransacked the house looking for money, but found none. Then they set about beating her with the iron bar. She has a broken leg, broken arm, all teeth knocked out of her mouth and severe facial and head injuries. They left with only a few items from the house. Fancy killing someone  just for a few worthless things!

“Some 18 months previously another farmer was killed in the same area of Centenary. His wife was seriously injured. She was able to positively identify four of the intruders but police did nothing about it. Nobody was ever captured or prosecuted. This latest attack has the same modus operandi, and thought that it might be the same gang. The lack of law is terrifying. What are we paying taxes for, when the police do not act?”

Flight delays because of Sydney cap? Wonder why your ready-to-depart flight was delayed on the runway? Here’s one possible answer, according to an aviation insider reports: “Air traffic controllers and the pilots are under immense pressure, and they now have added the idiocy of holding aircraft ready to depart — with engines running — at the holding point simply to ensure that the ‘possibility’ of exceeding the government-mandated Sydney movement cap is not exceeded.” We’re investigating — do you know more?

Clothing chain in trouble. Which well-known female clothing chain is due to announce it’s going into liquidation, as speculated on Melbourne radio station 3AW this morning?

Nine upsets rugby fans. You shouldn’t upset rugby lovers. They’re smarter than AFL fans (it’s the private-school education), and bigger than rugby league players. Internet forums are full of hate for Channel Nine over its coverage of the Rugby World Cup, which kicked off on Friday. Games that are shown on free-to-air have been scheduled around NRL coverage (the opening game timeslot was changed at the last minute), and fans in southern and western states aren’t seeing much of anything. As “Tonto” writes at The Roar: “Looks like Nine only wanted the rights so that the other channels WOULDNT get them, not so they could do a good job at it.”