Nintendo’s ”Wiimote” is getting a cushion cover. The Japanese game maker’s Wii machine has become a global hit among players young and old alike. To help prevent accidents and soften possible blows, Nintendo is shipping for free rubbery silicone covers for the handheld devices.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders held a new round of talks on Wednesday, meeting for the first time with their negotiating teams to try to bridge gaping differences ahead of a United States-sponsored peace summit. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met one-on-one for the fourth time in less than two months.
The Johannesburg Labour Court has postponed to Thursday a hearing on whether striking Johannesburg municipal workers could call a secondary strike. Workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers’ Union have been on strike since Monday. The court postponed the hearing after counsel for Johannesburg city said some of the union demands were unclear.
The fate of beleaguered Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha is to be decided on Thursday. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Wednesday this would happen at a central executive committee to discuss issues surrounding Madisha.
A new liver costs about R450 000, according to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang — herself the recent recipient of a new liver. In a written reply to a question by the Inkatha Freedom Party’s Ruth Rabinowitz in the National Assembly, she said hospital expenditure on liver transplants was, all inclusive, about R450 000 per patient.
Burma’s military regime kept up the pressure on its people on Wednesday after last week’s bloody crackdown on protesters as the European Union agreed in principle to punish the junta with sanctions. Troops who last week killed at least 13 and arrested over 1 000 people continued overnight arrests and mounted patrols to strike terror into the population.
Whether suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli had taken "national security interests" into consideration in decisions he made will be one of the main issues in a hearing to determine his fitness to hold office. President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday approved the terms of reference for the inquiry.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday to beware of the macroeconomic effects of a planned -billion loan from China to modernise the vast African country’s decrepit infrastructure and mining industry.
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South Africa coach Jake White said on Wednesday that injured prop CJ van der Linde will be fit to face Fiji in the World Cup quarterfinals. Van der Linde had picked up a knee injury and had been considered a doubtful starter for Sunday’s game at the Stade Velodrome.
The European Union is to hold an extraordinary meeting of national gas experts to discuss the dispute between Ukraine and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, officials said on Wednesday. The EU Gas Coordination Group will hold an ad-hoc meeting later this month to ”evaluate the situation” and assess its ”possible consequences”.