Iran’s president said on Monday Israel would soon disappear off the map and that the ”satanic power” of the United States faced destruction, in his latest verbal attack on the Islamic Republic’s arch-foes. Opposition to Israel is a fundamental principle in Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which backs Palestinian militants opposed to peace.
A United Nations nuclear watchdog team will visit Syria on June 22 to 24 to pursue an investigation into United States intelligence alleging that Damascus secretly built an atomic reactor, the agency’s chief said on Monday. The alleged reactor site was destroyed in an Israeli air raid last September and Washington handed over intelligence to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Zimbabwean police have arrested at least 70 suspects following attacks on liberation war veterans and ruling-party activists in the Buhera district, a state daily reported on Monday. ”So far more than 70 suspects have been arrested in connection with the cases,” police Deputy Commissioner General Levy Sibanda was quoted as saying by the Herald.
Wearing his trademark Cheetah blades, South African double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius won the 100m and 400m races at a Dutch Paralympic meet on Sunday. Pistorius, who hopes to run the 400m at the Beijing Olympics, won with a time of 47,92 at the Dutch Open, a day after coming first in the 200m.
Warren Gatland has opted for experienced flyhalf Stephen Jones over James Hook to spearhead Wales’ assault on world champions South Africa in their opening Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Jones made his Test debut in Wales’ record 96-13 defeat to the Springboks in 1998 and is embarking on his third tour of South Africa.
Nominal and real house-price growth slowed further in the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest Absa housing review. The slowdown in growth was largely as a result of the tightening of monetary policy, stricter requirements for credit extension, and less affordable housing.
Telecommunications heavyweight Telkom remained the talk of the town during the morning session on Monday as news of a potential buyout and negotiations with the UK’s Vodafone set pulses racing. However, the market as a whole was mixed as resources generally gained some ground, but banks felt the heat from a struggling
sector in the United Kingdom.
Multinational media company Naspers announced on Monday that, following approaches for the sale of its internet service provider business MWeb, it is initiating an auction process. MWeb is one of the largest residential internet service providers in South Africa and also owns the largest VSAT corporate internet base in sub-Saharan Africa.
The bodies of seven people, six of whom were farm workers, were recovered from a river near Fouriesburg. Their vehicle had earlier been found in the river by a passer=by. Police spokesperson Sergeant Mmako Mophiringsaid it was not known what had happened but the road they travelled had dangerous curves.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith is likely to miss next month’s opening Test against England after sustaining a hamstring injury. Smith (27) picked up the injury while playing in an Indian domestic league match and may have to sit out the opener at the Lord’s cricket ground starting on July 10.