Microsoft has signed deals with Volvo and whisky maker Chivas Brothers to support two new web-only video series from Reveille, the production company behind TV shows The Office and Ugly Betty. The two new shows will arrive on Microsoft’s MSN website in the next six months.
Workers at the Simmer & Jack Buffelsfontein gold mine in the North West are on strike over a pay dispute, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday. NUM regional coordinator Petrus Mahoko said workers are negotiating for a minimum salary of R2 700 a month for underground workers.
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann say they are trying to stay positive as they enter the seventh day since their three-year-old daughter disappeared from a resort in southern Portugal. Doctors Kate and Gerry McCann thanked the hundreds of police and volunteers searching for the girl, who detectives fear may have been abducted.
The headline in Sunday tabloid Sondag on May 6, which quoted Springbok coach Jake White as saying he alone chooses the Springbok team, was wrong and misleading, White said on Thursday. White issued a strongly worded statement refuting the claim made in the headline, which led to much debate in rugby circles.
Briton Simon Mann was denied bail by a Zimbabwean court on Thursday pending an appeal against his extradition to Equatorial Guinea to face coup-plot charges. ”The court is of the view that the applicant is not suitable for bail,” ruled magistrate Omega Mugumbate. ”The court thus declines to grant the application.”
Michael Ballack has no chance of playing in the FA Cup final for Chelsea while central defender Ricardo Carvalho will almost certainly miss the Wembley showpiece against Manchester United on May 19. ”Carvalho 1%, Ballack 0%,” manager Jose Mourinho told Chelsea’s website on Thursday.
Opposition political parties have lauded Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s announcement that the South African Revenue Service is introducing a new, simplified income-tax return system. ”The long overdue and welcome simplification of South Africa’s tax-return system will hold many benefits …,” DA spokesperson Ian Davidson said on Thursday.
Schools in Khutsong township near Carletonville remained empty on Thursday as pupils continued boycotting classes, the Anti-North West Forum said. Spokesperson Jomo Mogale said only teachers were present in schools around Khutsong. Pupils are protesting against the incorporation of the Merafong municipality into the North West from Gauteng.
A police officer who admitted taking marijuana from criminal suspects and baking it into brownies will avoid criminal charges. The police department’s decision not to pursue a case against former police officer Edward Sanchez left a bad taste in the mouth of at least one city official, who vowed to investigate.
There is still no clarity on when the National Lottery, suspended since the end of March, will be back up and running. At a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa declined to elaborate on the issue. He repeated an earlier statement that he would be able to give a more ”definitive indication” at the end of May.