UCB official trial set down for April, and other brief reports

* The three alleged killers of a man who was tossed to his death in a lions\' den will appear in the Phalaborwa Circuit Court today to stand trial for the murder. – IoL * A Kansas, US woman, Lisa Montgomery (36) is expected to go on trial in mid-March after pleading not guilty last week to charges of strangling a pregnant acquaintance and cutting the eight-month-old foetus from her womb. – CNN * Port Elizabeth housing official Bonisele Sikani (36) has gone on trial on 31 charges of theft involving R56 425 after allegedly taking deposits from people and promising them homes in return. – The Herald * Gauteng orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Marcel Marius Straub, has been fined R5 000 after admitting guilt before a disciplinary committee of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) on a charge of unprofessional conduct. Straub operated on the wrong shoulder of a patient after he was ‘misled’ by the preparation theatre staff had done. – Beeld * The convicted murderer of a leading Mozambican investigative journalist, Anibal Antonio dos Santos, is back in Maputo after breaking jail and unsuccessfully seeking asylum in Canada. – News24 * The Klerksdorp Regional Court has postponed the sentencing of Afrikaans teacher at Orkney High School, Hester van Niekerk, who has suffered a nervous breakdown after recently being convicted of indecent assault for forcing a 15-year-old boy to have sex with her. She will be sentenced on April 14. – Beeld