POLICE said on Wednesday afternoon that the complaint of assault laid against Springbok rugby player James Dalton has been withdrawn. The charge was laid at Johannesburg’s Bedfordview police station following a fracas at the local Health & Racquet Club, reportedly involving Dalton and H&RC employee Bruce Johnson, who suffered a number of facial injuries, including […]

TWELVE unions representing about 1,2-million public servants walked out of wage talks in Pretoria on Thursday, accusing the state of intransigence. Unions have dropped their pay rise demand from 15% to about 10% since the start of negotiations in February. The employer’s offer remained at 5%. The union have given the government 21 days to […]

A ZIMBABWEAN warplane has been shot down over the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, the head of the official Rwandan news agency said on Wednesday. “A Zimbabwean MiG was shot down on Tuesday by rebel forces while it was carrying out an air raid on rebel positions in the Kabalo region,” Major Wilson Rutayisire said. […]

A CENTURY by Kennedy Otieno helped Kenya beat Bangladesh by 73 runs on Wednesday and assure them a place in the final against Zimbabwe in the three-nation cricket tournament. Man-of-the-match Otieno hit six towering sixes and eight fours to reach his 120, helping Kenya to score 231 in 48.4 overs in Dhaka. Steve Tikolo took […]

AN international uproar is brewing in the small KwaZulu-Natal holiday town of St Lucia after a local guest house reportedly turned a senior Dutch diplomat and his family away on racist grounds. Namib Chalets allegedly barred Netherlands diplomat Dr WHLM Hoppers and his family from the guest house in December after finding out the family […]

RESULTS of the second round of the $215000 Casablanca Open tennis tournament in Morocco, played on Wednesday. Albert Portas (Spa x5) bt Alex Calatrava (Spa) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) bt Jacobo Diaz (Spa) 6-2, 7-6 (7/2); Fernando Vicente (Spa x3) bt Marcio Carlsson (Bra) 6-3, 6-0; Stefan Koubek (Aut x6) bt Eduardo […]

DOUBTS have crept in over the quality of the Sydney Football Stadium pitch, where Friday’s Super 12 clash between the Stormers and New South Wales Waratahs will be played. Stormers coach Alan Solomons is worried the pitch, where the grass is parasite-infected and consequently weakened, could increase the chances of tripping and injury. A lawyer, […]

THE Australian women’s hockey team beat South Africa 4-1 in the third of five tests in Potchefstroom on Wednesday. The series was locked at 1-1 coming into this match following Australia’s 3-0 victory in the first test and South Africa’s 2-1 win in the second. But any hopes the South Africans had of another upset […]

CIVIL debt continues to rise, with the number of civil summonses for debt recorded for the three months up to January 1999 increasing by 7,2% compared with the corresponding period last year, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. After seasonal adjustment this rises to an increase of 10,6% on the preceding three months. The total […]

AT least 32 people were killed and 26 injured when a passenger train derailed and overturned between the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa early on Wednesday, police said. Of the injured, 23 are deemed in critical condition. The Kenyan army and African Medical and Research Foundation have sent plane to assist […]