SOUTH Africa’s Elana Meyer became the first woman in the world to break the 67-minute mark for the half marathon as she clinched victory at the Tokyo City 21,1km on Friday morning. The Stellenbosch athlete set a world record at 66min 44sec in freezing 5 degrees Celsius conditions, beating Kenya’s Ester Winjiro by five seconds. […]

Local tribespeople have rejected a company’s bid to mine titanium in a pristine area of the Eastern Cape, but it seems that the company can’t take no for an answer, write James Black and Arlene Cameron On the Wild Coast south of Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape there is a small estuary of […]

Theatre: Chris Roper When you take your seat under the sky for the opening scene of As You Like It, this year’s offering at Maynardville, you can’t help but be intrigued. On stage is an aerobics floor, three exercise cycles, a juice bar, and Health and Racquet Club and Reebok flags fluttering in the Cape […]

Trainspotting made Irvine Welsh cool with its portrayal of drug-fuelled Scottish low-life. But don’t mistake the creator for his characters: he’s had a job in local government and even deals in property. Can he hack it as a novelist, though? Critics say his new book may be his last chance to prove himself. By Andy […]

SUDAN has opted to use the unified European currency, the euro, in its commercial transations as an alternative to the United States dollar. The Bank of Sudan said in a circular to various banks of the country, that “we are going to concentrate in the coming period on conducting commercial transactions in the euro as […]

A STONE-age site about 10000 years old has been discovered in Midrand near the Jukskei Valley, the Midrand Metropolitan Local Council announced on Thursday. The discovery was made with the help of Professor Revil Mason, retired head of the archaeology research unit at the Witwatersrand University. “This is the first time ever that a constructed […]

AN ALGERIAN stock exchange will open its doors on February 15 after lengthy delays says Ali Boukrami, chairman of the Algerian Securities Commission on Monday. The opening will coincide with the listing of 20% of the biggest domestic pharmaceutical firm, Saidal. The company will offer two million shares at a price of 800 dinars ($13,5) […]

UNSEASONABLY good rains have filled almost all Northern Province’s dams to capacity and could spark a lucrative agricultural boom in the region. Water affairs officials said on Thursday that heavy rains over the past three months have filled the important Ebenerzer, Klaserie and Magoebaskloof dams to 100% capacity while all others in the province are […]

CNN HAS implemented a poll on whether South Africa ought to implement racial quotas for teams competing in the Currie Cup. They outline a couple of sides of the issue in their piece, and the results are unambiguously against any kind of quota. See the poll, and vote at: CNN and view the results at: […]

A STRONG contingent of South Africa’s top athletes and several international stars will compete in the first of the 1999 Absa series prestige meetings in Bloemfontein on January 23. A showdown is expected between Africa’s number one discus thrower and 1998 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Free Stater Frantz Kruger, and Aleksandr Borichevsky, the Russian champion. […]