Cape Town newspaper The Daily Voice must apologise for having used pictures of the naked bodies of slain actor Brett Goldin and fashion designer Richard Bloom, media reports said on Thursday. The press ombudsman had reprimanded the paper and ordered it to publish an apology prominently on the front page.
A new report released on Thursday disputes scientists’ claims that bones of a dwarf human discovered on an Indonesian island are those of an entirely new human species. The 18 000-year-old bones found on Flores Island in 2003 were given the scientific name Homo floresiensis, and the nickname ”Hobbit” after the diminutive figures in JRR Tolkien’s novel.
Planned weapons sales to previously taboo customers, such as Libya and Turkey, are part of the package of measures adopted by the troubled parastatal defence conglomerate Denel to turn around persistent losses and declining sales. Briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee, CEO Shaun Liebenberg said new markets were opening up as the company won improved political backing for its marketing efforts.
There was nothing surprising about national police chief Jackie Selebi’s call for the demise of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), the body said on Thursday. ”He has always held reservations that he does not need to be monitored,” said acting ICD director Leslie Xinwa.
The third annual Mutual & Federal South African Cricket Awards, held on Thursday night at a glittering function in Johannesburg, saw Makhaya Ntini walk away with the prestigious South African Cricketer of the Year Award, as well as the Castle Test Cricketer of the Year Award, both for the second consecutive year.
World number four gold miner Gold Fields announced on Friday that it had acquired an extra 18,27-million Western Areas shares at a price of R40 per share for a purchase consideration of about R731-million. The acquisition increased Gold Fields’ total stake in Western Areas to 23,27-million shares, or 15,47% of that company’s total issued share capital.
Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni’s and his boss, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel’s concern over household debt is ”outdated”; while consumer spending that is currently driving strong economic performance is to be ”nurtured and encouraged”, not threatened with rate hikes. That is according to Investec economist Brian Kantor, who spoke to the media with colleague Carmen Marchetti.
Harry Potter’s stolen flying car has been found after mysteriously disappearing from a film set, British newspapers reported on Friday. The pale blue 1962 Ford Anglia, driven through the air by the boy wizard and sidekick Ron Weasley in the hugely successful Harry Potter films, was in storage on a film set in Cornwall, south-east England, when it was stolen last October.
Prominent church leaders are expected to meet President Robert Mugabe next week to discuss Zimbabwe’s deteriorating political and economic situation as pressure mounts at home and abroad for him to quit. This comes against a background of South Africa’s evident alarm this week at the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe.
Emily, Emma and Madison had better watch out: there’s a new kid on the block. United States social security data for 2005 shows that the girl’s name growing fastest in popularity is not a traditional name but a newfangled tongue-twister. Nevaeh is now the 70th most popular girl’s name in the US, sandwiched between Evelyn and Madeline.