United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recommended on Thursday the more than 14Â 000 peacekeepers in Liberia be reduced by about 5Â 000 over the next three years, starting in October. But Ban said it was ”too early to determine” when to withdraw the entire peacekeeping force.
South Africa’s blue chip Top-40 index turned positive after opening over 1% weaker on Friday, following a rebound in European shares. At 07h41 GMT, the Top-40 index was 0,67% stronger at 23Â 577,36, with the broader all-share index 0,54 percent firmer at 26Â 130,95 points.
South Africa’s rand weakened sharply against the dollar on Friday, just off a nine-and-a-half month low, as volatility prevailed on international markets, and traders said on Friday there was probably no respite for the unit on the horizon. The local currency was trading at 7,58 versus the dollar at 07h10 GMT, about 1,9% weaker than its New York close.
Jacques Kallis should take his omission from South Africa’s Twenty20 squad as a compliment, rather than flying into a huff, resigning as vice-captain and threatening to quit all forms of the international game. The fact that Justin Kemp — a technical and temperamental pygmy by comparison — has been selected ahead of him merely drives home the point.
”You can feel the anticipation and the tension growing because the serious stuff starts this week. Whether you’re a rugby player in South Africa or England, we’re in World Cup countdown and suddenly it feels very real. And that’s just the way it should be — because we’re close now. We’re very close,” says Schalk Burger, the Springbok flanker expected to be one of the stars of the tournament.
Never before has the Premier League season been so dominated by African players as we head towards the second weekend after the biggest-spending, most-hyped pre-season on record. Prepare for more. It doesn’t matter where you look this weekend.
With the start of the new football season, talk will be about new coaches, players, coaching techniques and fitness levels, and how commercialisation of the game is widening inequality among the clubs. Little will be said about the role of luck. But, if in doubt about this aspect of the game, ask the one man whose name and fortune — or misfortune — best tell the story.
Captain Brian O’Driscoll is set to miss Ireland’s opening match of the World Cup next month after suffering a fractured sinus during a warm-up match in France, the Irish Rugby Union said on Friday. The 28-year-old centre was taken to hospital for X-rays with a suspected broken right cheekbone after receiving a punch an hour into the 42-6 victory over Bayonne on Thursday.
Beijing banned more than one million cars from its roads on Friday in a test run to improve air quality for the Olympics, easing gridlock but failing to lift a curtain of smog from the capital. More than 6Â 500 traffic police were on duty across the city to ensure car owners observed the ban, while an extra two million more trips were expected to be taken on subways and buses during the day.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang will go to the Johannesburg High Court on Friday to protect her reputation, the Star reported. Court papers show the minister and Medi-Clinic are asking for the return and prohibition of the use of various medical records and documents relating to the minister’s stay in a Cape Town hospital in 2005.