Western Province ended a four-match losing streak in the Absa Currie Cup rugby competition by running out comfortable 47-18 winners in their match against the Valke at Newlands on Saturday. Province started off brightly and were up 17-0 after just 12 minutes, but their performance petered out and they carried only a 20-10 lead into halftime.
Former United Nations envoy for Sudan Jan Pronk is concerned about the effectiveness of a UN force for Darfur as the government in Khartoum has obstructed previous UN resolutions. The UN Security Council authorised on Tuesday up to 26 000 troops and police for Darfur and approved the use of force to protect civilians.
Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu) and National Petroleum Employers’ Association negotiators were still locked behind closed doors at 9pm on Saturday. ”All I can say is that we are still talking,” said Ceppwawu spokesperson Keith Jacobs.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal begin the countdown to this month’s US Open as the top two in the world resume their rivalry atop the field at the Montreal Masters. The event, which begins on Sunday in an effort to attract more fans, is the first of back-to-back elite events as the big names swing into action on the hard courts of North America.
David Beckham’s chances of making his much-anticipated Major League Soccer debut for Los Angeles at Toronto on Sunday are ”slim”, Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said. The 32-year-old former Real Madrid and Manchester United star lacks training time with his new teammates because of a left ankle injury
Paramedics from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial Emergency Medical Rescue Services and Netcare 911 on Saturday responded to reports of a collision between two trains at Dargle near the Midmar Dam in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said that a goods train had collided with a locomotive.
Convicted child-killer Christian Olivier has confessed to molesting at least 200 boys over a period of three years, a media report said on Friday. Olivier was found guilty on Tuesday of the murder, kidnapping and indecent assault of Steven Siebert in December 2005.
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will meet in Johannesburg on Saturday to consider what further action, if any, will be taken about complaints against Cape Judge President John Hlophe, said Chief Justice Pius Langa. Hlophe reportedly responded last month to questions put to him by the JSC about his relationship with the Oasis investment group.
United States President George Bush on Friday described the prospect of US strikes against al-Qaeda in Pakistan as ”unsavoury,” saying Washington respected its ally’s sovereignty, the Pakistani government said. It said Bush made the comments to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in a telephone call.
India and South Africa shared the challenge of a struggle against poverty, President Thabo Mbeki told businessmen in Johannesburg on Friday. Business was vital if this problem was to be effectively addressed, Mbeki told the Seventh India Calling Conference.