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/ 22 January 2008
An electricity shortage that has led to frequent power disruptions in South Africa could chase away investors, denting growth and portfolio inflows and weakening the rand. Economists estimate the cost to the economy has run into hundreds of millions of rands, adding to the woes brought on by the falls in financial markets.
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/ 22 January 2008
The World Bank and African Development Bank, acting over the turmoil in Kenya, said on Tuesday they may have to adjust lending programmes if unrest persists following a disputed poll. ”We wish to continue working with the people of Kenya … but it is difficult to do so effectively in an environment of instability,” they said.
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/ 22 January 2008
In the 80 years since the first Oscars were handed out, it has taken a war or a flood or an assassination to delay the celebration surrounding the film industry’s highest honours. Now Hollywood is wringing its hands over whether the strike by screenwriters could, or should, be enough to postpone the Academy Awards.
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/ 22 January 2008
Police released Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai hours after taking him away in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change planned the march to press President Robert Mugabe for a new Constitution.
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/ 22 January 2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Tuesday heightened the rancour of their Monday debate by attacking each other’s record and style, bringing what has become a mean-spirited and negative campaign to a new low. At a hastily arranged press conference in Washington, Clinton accused Obama of desperation.
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/ 22 January 2008
President Robert Mugabe’s government has ordered banks to end a banknote shortage or risk being closed, state media reported on Wednesday. Banknotes have joined the long list of basic commodities in short supply in the Southern African country, which is grappling with an acute economic crisis blamed on Mugabe’s policies.
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/ 22 January 2008
The death of Heath Ledger was a tragic accident, his Australian family said on Wednesday after the actor was found dead at his New York apartment. ”We, Heath’s family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda,” his father Kim said.
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/ 22 January 2008
Heath Ledger, the Australian actor nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for his depiction of a brooding gay cowboy, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday. He was 28. He was discovered in his bedroom in the apartment in the SoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan at 3.30pm by a housekeeper and a masseuse.
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/ 22 January 2008
Chinese police have shut down a website selling real-time porn and arrested 33 people, state media said on Wednesday, part of a campaign which led to the shut-down of 44 000 websites and arrest of 868 people last year. Rights groups have said the campaign has been used as a pretext to crack down on dissent.
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/ 22 January 2008
Scorpions investigator Ivor Powell was granted R1 000 bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. His case was remanded to April 29 pending the outcome of his blood alcohol tests. He was arrested on Tuesday night, apparently in the company of alleged Americans gang boss Igshaan Davids.