AT least 12 people were killed in an attack by armed Islamic militants in the region of Ain Defla, west of Algiers. Several newspapers reported 13 people were killed in Monday’s attack. Three other people were wounded, two seriously, and five young girls were kidnapped. The dead, including five women, were employed at a center […]

SUSTAINED automatic weapons fire broke out near the home of Central African Republic President Ange-Felix Patasse overnight, when uniformed youth militiamen marched on the residence, witnesses said on Monday. Panic spread among residents of Bangui when twice on Sunday evening live or tracer bullets were fired and volleys of teargas grenades unleashed. The shaven-headed youths […]

THREE Cape Flats policemen were arrested over the weekend and have been charged with armed robbery. Police said Captain Daniel Stander, 34, and Sergeant Steven October, 31, were charged with armed robbery on Monday. A third policeman, Inspector Horatio Lawrence, 35, gave himself up on Sunday. They allegedly robbed self-employed members of the public in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 7.30pm. SOUTH Africa’s cricketers, fresh from a humiliating nine-wicket defeat on Sunday, will again meet Nasser Hussain’s England in a Triangular Series one-dayer at Newlands on Wednesday. The locals have Jonty Rhodes back in the side, and his presence is likely to give the South Africans’ morale a sorely […]

THE cash-strapped National Symphony Orchestra has closed down after it was unable to find the R10-million it needs to continue. NSO leader Caius Oprea said on Sunday they have been informed that the institution has run out of money. “We were told that we may even not be paid for this month, meaning that we […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Brussels | Tuesday 3.15pm. FIFA president Sepp Blatter vowed on Tuesday that there will never again be two host nations for the World Cup under his presidency as is the case for Japan and South Korea in 2002. Visiting Brussels to attend the FIFA World Player of the Year awards, Blatter said: “FIFA’s […]

ISSA Hayatou of Cameroon comfortably won re-election as president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) in Accra on Thursday. Hayatou defeated Angolan Armando Machado 47-4 at the 24th CAF congress to win a fourth four-year term. It was the first time he was opposed for the position. The 53-year-old former Cameroon athlete said that he […]

TOUTS have bought up almost all the tickets for Sunday’s Egypt-Zambia African Nations Cup match, selling them at up to three times the face value, angry match organisers said on Monday. The touts pushed up prices from 200 to 600 naira ($2 – $6), pushing them out of the range of many ordinary Nigerian fans, […]

ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Johannesburg | Sunday 6.30pm. SWEDEN’S Mathias Gronberg overcame a three hour lightning delay to win his third European Tour event by birdying the final hole of the South African Open at Randpark. In a breathless finish Gronberg’s score of 274, 14 under par pushed him a shot ahead of Nick Price and Ricardo […]

FORMER South Africa off-spinner Pat Symcox announced his retirement from first-class cricket on Friday. “The time has come to move on,” said Symcox, 39, who played 20 tests and 80 one-day internationals for his country. He made his first-class debut for Griqualand West in 1977-78 and was their captain this season. “My form for Griquas […]