South Africa were in charge on Friday at the close of play on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at Newlands in Cape Town. The visitors were in trouble on 96-4, for a slender lead of 18. The two teams played a game of cat and mouse for most of the afternoon, as each tried to gain the upper hand, but the South Africans took control as they claimed four vital wickets.
President Mwai Kibaki is open to the idea of a coalition government to end Kenya’s post-election crisis but only if the opposition meets his terms, South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu said on Friday. ”There is a great deal of hope,” said Tutu, trying to mediate to end turmoil that has killed more than 300 people and threatened one of Africa’s strongest economies.
This year’s Dakar Rally has been cancelled over security concerns, in particular direct ”terrorist” threats to the race, organisers announced on Friday. The race had been due to start in Lisbon on Saturday but the murder of four French tourists in Mauritania on December 24 led to the French government advising against any travel to the country.
Martina Hingis was banned for two years on Friday for testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon last year. The International Tennis Federation said an independent anti-doping tribunal found that Hingis, who announced her retirement November 1 on the day she revealed the positive test, had committed an offence.
China has announced new rules to control the explosion of audio-visual content on the internet, in a move seen as an effort to transfer the government’s television- and radio-censorship model to websites. Only state-controlled entities will have the right to operate websites that post audio-visual material under the new regulations.
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla had studied the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) decision on whether police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi ”had a case to answer”, her spokesperson said on Friday. Zolile Nqayi said the minister had studied the report last year.
Four more people have drowned in Zimbabwe, bringing to 31 the numbers killed in flooding caused by a month of heavy rains, which have also claimed two lives in neighbouring Mozambique, according to various reports on Friday. In Zimbabwe, three people travelling in an ox-drawn cart were swept away by floodwaters in an area in northern Mashonaland West province.
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South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader, Jacob Zuma, has denied allegations of corruption and vowed to fight charges laid against him in court, local media reported on Friday. ”I am innocent. I have not committed any crime,” Zuma was quoted as saying in Beeld.
Trade in Kenya’s foreign exchange and stock markets was slow and volumes thin on Friday, as fears of more post-election violence kept many dealers at home. ”There’s not much activity. Most players are out,” said Bank of Africa forex dealer Robert Gatobu. ”It’s a wait-and-see attitude with players waiting for the political climate to calm down.”
The recent spate of light-aircraft accidents was largely a result of human error and negligence, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Friday. ”It’s not the machine that is a problem — it’s the human; the pilot, the maintenance engineer …” said the CAA’s executive manager of air-safety investigations, Gilbert Thwala.