The South African Reserve Bank will be hosting the first round of regional monetary policy forum (MPF) meetings in May 2008. "Monetary policy has an impact on everybody. The main objective of the MPF meetings is to enhance the transparency of the bank’s monetary policy decision-making process and accountability to the public," it said.
Elders from northern Uganda tried to meet fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony on Friday to salvage long-running peace talks after he delayed signing a deal to end one of Africa’s longest wars. The draft agreement between Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army and the government appeared to be near collapse.
Zulu queens spent R533 000 just on clothing between June and October last year, media reports said on Friday. This came as nearly R10-million was needed to avoid the collapse of some of the royal palaces. The spending spree emerged as the royal household appeared before the finance portfolio committee in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
The discovery of a rare species of Indonesian frog that breathes without lungs could shed light on how evolution works, a scientist said on Friday. A dissection of the frog, found on Borneo island last August, showed it breathed entirely through its skin, biologist David Bickford said.
Johan Vega knows the Havana Golf Club well. Too well. He has played every bunker, green and fairway thousands of times and the course has become monotonous. Golfers like to tackle different courses but the club is Havana’s sole golf course and Vega (37) is Havana’s only golf instructor.
A British citizen was charged on Thursday with war crimes in the Balkans 16 years ago and faces trial in Belgrade for allegedly taking part in the murder of at least 200 Croatian prisoners by Serbian firing squads. Milorad Pejic, a Croatian Serb from the Croatian border town of Vukovar, lived in Corby in Northamptonshire for 10 years until last month.
Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday appealed to Italian voters to give him a huge majority at the general election on Sunday and Monday. He said that ”to really govern” he needed a margin of at least 20 seats in the Senate, the Upper House of the Italian Parliament. That would allow him ”to take, if necessary, difficult and unpopular decisions”.
It was no secret that a polygamist sect that built a compound in the west Texas desert believed in marrying off underage girls to older men. The sheriff had an informant for four years who was feeding him information about life inside the sect. But authorities say their hands were tied until last week.
American Airlines has cancelled about 570 flights scheduled for Friday, raising to more than 3 000 the number this week it has grounded to reinspect the wiring on its MD-80 fleet for a second time. The disruption has affected more than 300 000 passengers, including Friday’s schedule cuts.
The final eight teams that will vie for the R1-million prize for winning the 2008 Vodacom Cup will be confirmed after this weekend’s final round of league matches. Though Griquas and Western Province are certain of their places in the quarterfinals, at least eight teams remain in contention for the six remaining play-off spots.