Japanese electronics giant Sony and telecoms operator KDDI will jointly develop cellphones with music player features as competition heats up in the sector. Sony and KDDI, Japan’s number-two telecoms operator, hope for a summer launch for the Walkman phones, which will include flash memory capable of storing about 500 songs.
A Zimbabwe government minister said on Sunday that proposals by President Robert Mugabe’s government to take control of foreign-owned mines will take longer to implement as negotiations are still ongoing with the industry. The Chamber of Mines has presented a less radical proposal to the government on empowerment.
The Da Vinci Code scored -million worldwide and topped the North American box office in its weekend debut as the controversial film overcame bad reviews and calls for boycotts, early figures showed on Sunday. It was the fourth biggest worldwide opening, according to Daily Variety, the top Hollywood trade paper.
Tim Herron sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Sweden’s Richard Johnson and give the American his fourth career PGA title on Sunday at the Colonial Tournament. Herron, who had not won a US event since the 1999 Bay Hill Invitational, nearly squandered a lead with three back-nine bogeys in the final round, the last at the 16th hole.
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The United States World Cup football squad concluded a 12-day training camp in North Carolina on Sunday and prepared for three friendlies in the next week to serve as a tuneup for matches in Germany. The Americans will face Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic next month in opening-round play at the global football showdown.
The prices of imported vehicles in South Africa are on average 18% higher than in European countries, according to a newly released Competition Commission report. The document, which has been submitted to the mid-term review of the motor industry development programme (MIDP), has not been publicly released before.
The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is to meet Hamas leaders this week in an attempt to prevent growing conflict in the Gaza Strip degenerating into civil war after a bomb attack that seriously injured the head of the Palestinian intelligence service and a failed attempt to blow up another senior security official.
A combination of icy temperatures and reduced capacity could plunge parts of Cape Town into darkness on Monday night, a media report said on Monday. Eskom has estimated that there will be a shortage of at least 150 megawatts from 6pm to 8pm, after Koeberg’s Unit Two generator is switched off on Monday for refuelling and safety upgrades.
Emboldened by the acquittal of Jacob Zuma, leaders of the African National Congress and South African Communist Party youth leagues have become more strident than usual, and the politics of demagogy threaten to choke the national discourse. Why, I’ve wondered, have their various mad ramblings gone unchecked?
Martina Hingis will be hoping that recent history repeats itself as she returns to Roland Garros for the first time in five years after winning the Rome Masters. The 25-year-old Swiss capped her remarkable return to tennis and set her sights on the French Open after overcoming late resistance from Dinara Safina to lift her first title since reversing her retirement last January, winning 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday.