A PARACHUTIST remains in a critical condition at the Knysna Hospital after a freak accident at an airshow at Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape on Monday, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday. Paul Siebert hit the tailwing of the aircraft he was jumping from, and was knocked unconscious. His parachute opened with the impact, […]

UN chief Kofi Annan has asked the security council to raise the number of peacekeeping troops in troubled Sierra Leone to 10000 to make up for the departure of Nigerian soldiers. The UN force, Unamsil, has deployed 6000 troops in the country to enforce peace accords signed in July to bring an end to its […]

VOLUMES were thin on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Tuesday with many players absent for year-end holidays. The modest value traded, only R327-million, and the fall in the benchmark all share index were evidence of the thin trading conditions. Other major indices were also down, with the exception of the financial index and the gold […]

THE Department of Home Affairs said on Tuesday it is geared to issue hand-written birth, marriage and death certificates in the event of any computer failures linked to the change of year to 2000. In a statement in Pretoria, the department assured the public that its systems are Y2K compliant, saying there is no need […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.15pm INFORMATION technology firm Dimension Data Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday it will cut an original purchase price for the European networking operations of its rival, Comparex Holdings Ltd, to 250-million from 290-million Didata shares. “As a result of the due diligence exercise, Didata and Comparex have agreed to alter […]

MORE than 1000 foreign tourists are this week expected to climb Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, as part of millennium celebrations. “We expect more than 1000 people to take part in the expedition despite the hiking of fees to check the influx for environmental reasons,” James Lembeli, public relations manager in the Tanzania National […]

AN Australian music producer, Peter Carlson, has been charged with allegedly recruiting five Zambian girls with the intention of taking them to Australia to become prostitutes. Carlson, who was arrested on the weekend together with a Zambian driver, Misheck Banda, denied the allegations on Monday. Each was granted bail of 6-million kwachas ($2000). Carlson was […]

THE government of Senegal and armed separatists in the southern Casamance region agreed on “an immediate halt to fighting” at peace talks on Sunday in the Gambian capital. The Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC), has been battling Senegalese government troops for the past 17 years. The agreement has been signed by Senegalese Interior Minister […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 4.00pm. SOUTH Africa are 183 runs behind England’s first innings total of 366/9 declared after being bowled out for 156 runs and asked to follow-on by England skipper Nasser Hussain on the third day of the third Test in Durban on Tuesday. South Africa have not been forced to follow […]

THE road death toll since the start of the holiday season on December 1 has surged towards the 650 mark, well over the number of road deaths the same time last year. Two people were killed and six others injured after a vehicle they were travelling in collided with a goods train at the Mare […]