No image available
/ 11 February 2008

East Timor president ‘out of danger’

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is "out of danger" and "recovering" following treatment in Australia after being shot in the stomach by rebels, the speaker of the country’s Parliament said on Monday. "According to the information we have, the president has been operated on and the bullet that was in his lung has been removed," Fernando de Araujo said.

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

ID dismisses Zille’s claims on bribery

The Independent Democrats (ID) on Monday dismissed as false claims by Cape Town mayor Helen Zille that the Democratic Alliance (DA) did not sanction the bribery of ID councillor Sheval Arendse. Simon Grindrod, ID caucus leader for the city, said it was clear that the bribery was done with the full blessing of the DA leadership.

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

Jeppestown trial postponed

The ”Jeppestown massacre” trial was on Monday postponed to Tuesday in the Johannesburg High Court so that a decision on the recusal of the judge could be made. Eleven out of the 13 accused on Friday filed an application for the recusal of Judge Ratha Motkgoatleng on the basis of reasonable apprehension of bias.

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

Israel threatens to topple Gaza’s Hamas rulers

Israel threatened to topple the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers on Monday following a surge of cross-border rocket attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group. ”I believe a combination of steps against Hamas in Gaza will bring an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza,” Israel’s Vice-Premier, Haim Ramon, told reporters. ”They will not last. It will take a few months.”

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

Residential property market continues to slow

Residential market activity levels dropped to 5,1 from 5,3 in the fourth quarter of last year, according to First National Bank’s (FNB) Residential Property Confidence Indicator. FNB research indicated that constraining factors continued to be rising interest rates, inflationary pressures and the effect of the National Credit Act.

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

Platinum price tops $1 900 on supply worries

Platinum cleared the $1 900-an-ounce mark on Monday for the first time in its history as concerns of further supply disruptions due to power shortages continued to plague the market. The precious white metal gained $27 to trade at $1 917,50 an ounce by 1.45pm after hitting $1 890 in late after-market trade on Friday.

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

Beijing backs gag order following uproar in UK

Beijing Olympic organisers said on Monday they backed a ban on political protests by athletes attending this year’s Games, amid an uproar over an effort to silence British athletes. Following widespread anger, the British Olympic Association backed down on Sunday on its plan to prevent British competitors from commenting on ”politically sensitive issues”.