Weekend News in Tweets: blast rocks New York, South Africa remembers Mandoza

News moves at the speed of social media in today’s world, and that’s especially the case on the weekend. Take a look at the world news you might’ve missed this weekend through the 140-character lens of Twitter.

Welcome to the Weekend News in Tweets (16 September – 18 September).

South African middle-distance runner Charl du Toit won his second gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this weekend, taking gold in the T37 400m event. This makes him South Africa’s first double-medal winner of the games thus far.

All the Glory 2 God!!! #TeamSArise! #Rio2016 #Paralympics Photo credit: Zimbio Images pic.twitter.com/HKA0hmlfrR

— Charl du toit (@Charldutoit37) September 17, 2016

Iranian paralympic cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad died Saturday after injuries sustained in a crash on the C4-5 men’s road race led to cardiac arrest. Golbarnezhad, who also competed at London 2012, is the first olympian or paralympian to die at a Summer Olympics since 1960.

The IPC Statement on the tragic death of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad: https://t.co/mu4OsJaFOl

— snap: paralympics (@Paralympics) September 17, 2016

A monitor lizard crosses the Singapore GP track at Saturday’s Formula 1 free practice session. The race, which took place under the lights of the city, was won by Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second, while Rosberg’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished third.

SPY: People always say Formula One is full of reptiles and now we have proof! #RBspy🕵 pic.twitter.com/lpMNMGmDhS

— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 17, 2016

Soweto-born kwaito musician Mandoza was just 38-years-old

An explosion Saturday evening rocked the Manhattan district of Chelsea, New York and left at least 29 people injured. A second suspicious package was removed soon after,

UPDATE: The suspicious device on West 27 Street in Chelsea has been safely removed by the NYPD Bomb Squad.

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 18, 2016

This is the device found at second location, near New York explosion, officials say. https://t.co/cpgJgDr4X5 pic.twitter.com/TZr07KwDra

— CNN (@CNN) September 18, 2016

Thanks to a Spring cold front that brushed past South Africa’s southern regions, snow fell on much of the Drakensberg and KwaZulu-Natal midlands this weekend. This made travel within the province fairly treacherous.

What great day had by all, light snow still falling. pic.twitter.com/uiOl2vwENV

— Sani Mountain Lodge (@Briansanipass) September 18, 2016

8km outside of Harrismith right now. pic.twitter.com/IDrebyqnR1

— Snow Report SA (@SnowReportSA) September 18, 2016

#Snow on #AmajubaPass N11 results in several minor collisions. pic.twitter.com/5wulDEObpW

— ER24 EMS (Pty) Ltd. (@ER24EMS) September 18, 2016

South African kwaito musician, Mandoza, died Sunday afternoon after losing a long battle with cancer. Mandoza’s last appeared in the public spotlight last weekend, at the SABC’s Thank You concert. Read the full report and Twitter reaction below.

Mandoza dies: South Africa remembers kwaito legend

South African kwaito and hip-hop recording artist, Mandoza, has died. The news emerged Sunday afternoon from SABC reporter Sthembiso Sithole, who was at the kwaito star’s household in Soweto. An hour prior to the tweet below, Sithole tweeted that “we lost another Kwaito Star”. Read more…

Google Search Trends

Search interest for “Mandoza” peaked at around 3pm Sunday afternoon, with the majority of the queries stemming from his home province, Gauteng.

The Springboks Saturday lost yet another match in their Rugby Championship campaign, going down 41-13 to New Zealand in Christchurch. New Zealand now won the Championship with two matches to spare, while South Africa is now in third place, just a point ahead of Argentina.

Congratulations to @AllBlacks with a well-deserved 41-13 win over the #Springboks in Christchurch pic.twitter.com/NMw1pWM8WO

— South African Rugby (@Springboks) September 17, 2016

Feature image: DARSHAN SIMHA via Flickr