A dinner date Romeo wooed lonely Hong Kong women over the internet, then took them for expensive meals and fled, leaving them to pay the bills, a news report said Friday. The sly charmer took them out for lavish dinners, then asked to use their mobile phones to make a business call and fled shortly before the bill was due to arrive, The South China Morning Post reported.
Injuries to three of South Africa’s main bowlers caused headaches for South African skipper Graeme Smith after lunch on the first day of the second Castle Lager/MTN Test against Zimbabwe at Supersport Park on Friday, in a session that saw three wickets fall in three overs without any addition to the score. Zimbabwe went to tea on 189 for seven.
Defending champions ACT Brumbies overcame new injuries on Friday to beat South Africa’s Stormers 22-19 Friday in the Super 12 rugby union competition. Already missing key backline players, the Brumbies suffered a further blow on the eve of the match when centre Gene Fairbanks withdrew because of a facial injury.
An Australian rugby enthusiast on Friday vowed to fight legal action from McDonald’s objecting to his team having the word ”McBrat” emblazoned on their uniforms. Lawyer Malcolm McBratney said he sponsored the Brisbane Irish rugby union team, which adopted the ”McBrat” tag because they could not fit his full surname on the back of their shorts.
Last weekend’s satellite television weekend was, to put it mildly, a disgrace. MultiChoice, the South African satellite signal distributor of satellite television programmes, is preparing for the launch of another of DStv’s famous ”bouquets”. In order to prepare the older decoders of many of MultiChoice’s existing customers, certain remote electronic re-jigging was necessary.
Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal boosted his fortune faster than anyone in the world over the past year to become the third richest person in the world, Forbes Magazine said on Thursday. London-based Mittal, who built one of the world’s biggest steel empires, has a net worth of -billion, trailing only Microsoft chief Bill Gates (,5-billion).
Botswana has started providing anti-retroviral drugs to soldiers in an effort to mitigate the impact of HIV/Aids on its armed forces. The programme, described as "a key watershed in safeguarding the security of the nation", is expected to target an estimated 5 000 infected soldiers and their dependents.
African ICT market analysts BMI-TechKnowledge has released the results from their latest research, entitled Top 350 Telecoms Spenders. The report shows that close to 50% of the 350 indicated they would consider switching some of their telecoms business to the second national operator should the service offerings be competitive.
An agreement was reached between the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Musina local municipality in the Pretoria High Court on Friday for Cosatu to increase the number of picketers on the Zimbabwe border to 500. The other limitations imposed by the municipality still stand, the court ruled.
Eritrea on Friday strongly denied allegations it is massing troops along its border with Sudan, rejecting as ”groundless” reported statements to that effect made by a Sudanese official. ”It’s a groundless accusation, a total fabrication,” said Yemane Gebremeskel, director of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s office.