<b>ON CIRCUIT:</b> <i>The Eye</i> and <i>Married Life</i>, in which Pierce Brosnan stars and narrates.
Andre Nel is back in the Proteas Test squad for the four-match cricket series against England, to be played in July and August. Cricket South Africa selection committee convener Joubert Strydom on Friday announced a squad of 15 that consists of Nel plus the 14 players who did duty on the recent tour of India.
Anti-foreigner violence in South Africa has already hit the mining sector, a mainstay of the domestic economy, and threatens to undermine confidence among international investors, analysts say. Even before the unrest broke out, the outlook for the South African economy was clouded by uncertainty.
Criminals are using xenophobia as a ”perfect excuse” to commit crime, KwaZulu-Natal safety and security minister Bheki Cele said on Friday. ”I am just concerned that criminals are using xenophobia as an excuse to commit crimes … Why else would they steal the foreigners’ belongings?”
Twelve pedestrians were knocked down and injured by a police vehicle in Berea in Johannesburg on Thursday, ER24 emergency services said. Spokesperson Riana Beech said the accident happened at the corner of Tudhope and Soper Streets at about 4.30pm.
The Iranian government has proposed the creation of an international consortium to enrich uranium on its own soil as a way of defusing the tense stand-off over its nuclear programme. The proposal is part of a ”new and comprehensive initiative” put forward by Iran ahead of a planned visit to Tehran by Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief.
An HIV-positive man, who may have infected an 11-year-old girl he raped, was jailed for life by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday. Bhoyi Plaatjies (44) of Pietermaritzburg, was convicted in the local magistrate’s court and was referred to the high court for sentencing.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Angola on Friday in a bid to improve relations following an arms scandal that provoked tensions between the two countries. Sarkozy was to hold talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday morning at the presidential palace.
He has been a near-constant presence at hundreds of Barack Obama rallies across the United States over the past 15 months. David Axelrod, a melancholy, dishevelled figure with a drooping moustache, is Obama’s campaign strategist, and has overseen his rise from political obscurity to the verge of the White House.
Democratic party officials disclosed on Thursday that Barack Obama has sanctioned a hunt for a vice-presidential candidate, a further sign that he regards the battle with Hillary Clinton as being over. Time magazine, in a report in its next issue, quotes a friend of Bill Clinton saying he wants his wife to be the vice-presidential candidate.