AN unmarried Egyptian couple caught kissing in public were sentenced this week to one year in prison under Egypt’s morality laws, judicial officials said on Saturday. Noha Ali and her boyfriend Magdi Abderahim were locked in a passionate embrace outside the courthouse in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in May 1997, oblivious to everything and […]

TEST cricketer Makhaya Ntini will remain eligible for selection for the national team, the United Cricket Board of South Africa announced on Sunday. In a brief statement, the board said Ntini (21) remains eligible for consideration. Ntini was released on R5000bail on Friday after appearing in court in East London on a charge of raping […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 7.30pm. Ernie Els shot a four-under-par final round of 68 on Sunday to win the Alfred Dunhill PGA Championship in Johannesburg, the opening event of the European Tour, by four strokes. Els finished at 273, 15-under-par, for his third PGA title. Fellow South African Richard Kaplan was second on 277 […]

SENTENCE in the 17-day trial of former Zimbabwean head of state, Canaan Banana, will be delivered on Monday by judge president, Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku. The judge last year found Banana guilty of 11 counts of sodomy, indecent assault and attempted indecent assault.

THE ratio of profitability — measured by net profit on turnover — in the South African manufacturing industry jumped 4,1% in the third quarter of last year, from 3,7% in the second quarter after seasonal adjustment. However, the profitability ratio at 4,1% was slightly lower than the corresponding period in 1997 when it was at […]

THE EXECUTIVE of the United Cricket Board of South Africa on Sunday declared that 21-year-old pace bowler Makhaya Ntini would be eligible for selection to all national teams. With the squad to play the West Indies in the upcoming one-day series scheduled to be announced at Centurion Park on Monday, speculation was rife that Ntini, […]

JAPAN’S ex-premier Ryutaro Hashimoto left Johannesburg on Saturday after a four-day visit to South Africa that an embassy official said was “very successful.” Hashimoto met Deputy President Thabo Mbeki twice during the visit, aimed at cementing ties between the countries. Hashimoto, now a senior foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, arrived in South […]

THE Bank of Botswana has introduced Repurchase Agreements to deal with increasing excess liquidity in the financial system, the Bank said in a statement on Thursday. The instruments were introduced effective January 4. “They will enable us to fine-tune the system,” a spokesperson said.

THE total mining production for the three months ending in November increased by just 0,7% after seasonal adjustment compared with the previous three months. However, the total mining production for the first eleven months of 1998 fell by 2,2% compared with the first eleven months of 1997. Seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales for the […]

THE expertise of South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu could be called upon to help with plans to put on trial leaders of the Khmer Rouge, according to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. “We are looking at the South African example of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an interesting one, where they have the end […]