Bulls prop Jaco Engels received a three-week suspension and centre JP Nel a one-week ban on Monday following incidents in the weekend’s Super 14 loss to the Sharks. Cited after the 29-15 defeat at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s final, the pair fronted up to a judiciary at the stadium.
Struggling Premier Soccer League (PSL) club Bloemfontein Celtic said on Monday that they had fired coach Khabo Zondo. Zondo, who also assists national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, was axed a day after mid-table Celtic conceded three late goals to lose 3-1 at Moroka Swallows.
Boozing into the night might inhibit coherent speech, but a Japanese company bets it will make workers communicate better. And it’s even willing to pay for it. Japan General Estate said on Tuesday it is planning to dole out thousands of dollars a month for its employees to go on the town in a bid to help communication.
The Bush administration, caught out by the rise of Hamas, embarked on a secret project for the armed overthrow of the Islamist government in Gaza, it emerged on Monday. Vanity Fair reports in its April edition that President George Bush signed off on a plan for the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to remove the Hamas authorities in Gaza.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele on Monday condemned a surge in cash-in-transit heists in the province. ”This renewed spate of heists in the province is something we condemn in the strongest terms, for such criminality results in a number of people … being inconvenienced by the delays in getting their money,” he said.
Israeli war planes on Tuesday carried out raids on the north of the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinians and wounding two others, a Palestinian medical source said. Israel had vowed on Monday to keep hitting Gaza, even as troops pulled out of the Hamas-run territory after clashes that killed more than 120 Palestinians and dealt a blow to peace talks.
Until Monday there was little argument about the holder of the coveted title of shortest leader in the world: at 162cm, or a shade over five feet three inches, Kim Jong-il, supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army and Great Leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea, stood head and shoulders below the rest of the field.
Venezuela and Colombia were locked in a tense stand-off on Monday, with explosive accusations levelled against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez a day after he ordered tanks and troops to the border. There was no sign of imminent conflict but the war of words escalated when Colombia accused Chávez of bankrolling Marxist rebels.
I’ve become paranoid about posting thoughts to <i>Thought Leader</i>, the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i>’s blogging platform for the country’s intelligentsia. As I write this, the website’s resident thinkers are discussing the meaning of life. So you’ll understand why I’m hesitating over leading some particular thoughts.
Johannesburg road speed cameras will be up and running this week, the Johannesburg metro police department said on Monday. ”There was a growing concern for human life as motorists began using roads as racing tracks when the cameras were not working,” said Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.