Australia has placed a freeze on the settlement of refugees from Africa, but Prime Minister John Howard denied on Wednesday that the decision was a pre-election pitch to immigration-wary voters. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said refugees from Africa were having problems integrating in Australian communities.
Always fierce rivals in sport, Australia and England’s World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday should be a classic if it matches the same level of animosity that has dominated the build-up. The players have stuck to the sportsman’s mantra that they respect their opponents and will have to be at their best to win.
It was almost with a measure of relief that Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira announced his ”strongest available” 22-man squad on Wednesday to tackle foxy world champions Italy in their Siena lair on October 17.
A Cape High Court judge on Wednesday reserved his ruling on a forfeiture application against former LeisureNet joint chief executives Peter Gardener and Rod Mitchell. The two men have already paid over R29,5-million to liquidators, the state says there is a shortfall of at least half a million rands each.
North Korea has agreed to disable its Yongbyon reactor and other nuclear facilities by the end of the year, throwing the ball into the hermit country’s court to turn its promises into action. In an agreement which won praise from United States President George Bush, the isolated state will in return get aid equivalent to one million tonnes of heavy fuel oil
The United States House of Representatives has passed a Bill that would force Ethiopia, one of Washington’s strongest military partners in Africa, to make democratic reforms or else lose security aid. The Bill would deny US entry visas to Ethiopian government officials involved in what it calls human rights violations .
A suspended bus company manager may have sparked a fierce bus blaze that killed 27 and put another 11 passengers in hospital, the official Xinhua agency said late on Tuesday. The bus, with 38 people on board, was heading downtown when the fire erupted just after 5pm local time.
Trade union Solidarity has accused Denel of using employee salary funds to pay bonuses to top management. While Denel is locked in a dispute with four trade unions about exemption from national wage increases, 49 top management members have been paid performance bonuses totalling R2,2-million.
Any attempt by the South African National Geographical Names Council to consider the name-change request to change Potchefstroom to Tlokwe will result in court action, Action Potchefstroom said on Wednesday. Spokesperson for the civic organisation Theo Venter said the request for the name change was fundamentally flawed.
Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown and financial director Graham Maddock appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. The case was postponed to December 7 for a regional court date and for the state to give the defence teams a charge sheet. The appearance follows their rearrest in August on fresh fraud and theft charges.