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World Cup hosts France completed their warm-up campaign ahead of the start of next month’s showpiece tournament with an impressive 34-7 win against Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday. In a lively match, France, who’ve yet to win the World Cup, outscored Wales by four tries to one.
AB de Villiers smashed a stylish century as South Africa beat a battling Zimbabwe by 28 runs in the third and final one-day international at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday to sweep the series 3-0. De Villiers, promoted up the order to replace the injured Loots Bosman, hit six sixes and eight fours off 89 balls as South Africa powered their way to 323-9 off their 50 overs.
An urgent meeting to discuss alleged irregularities around Parliament’s security will soon be convened by its speaker and the National Council of Provinces chairperson, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Sunday. On Friday, media reports broke on an alleged corruption scandal involving Parliament’s multimillion-rand security system.
Zimbabwe’s week-long agricultural showcase kicks off Monday, despite the country’s collapsing farm industry and worsening food shortages. The Harare Show, to be opened by Equatorial Guinea dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema, will feature exhibitions including more than 100 cattle, goats, pigs, guinea fowl, rabbits and chickens.
Canada has no intention of apologising for one of its diplomats after the Sudanese government expelled Ottawa’s charge d’affaires, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said on Sunday. ”Canada condemns the government of Sudan’s decision to expel the charge d’affaires,” Bernier said in a statement.
Firefighting planes took off at first light on Monday, targeting dozens of fires blazing across Greece, a day after a massive effort prevented the birthplace of the Olympics from being devastated by the flames. Sixty-three people have been killed by the country’s worst wildfires in living memory. New blazes broke out faster than others could be brought under control.
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The legal battle between former deputy president Jacob Zuma and South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will continue this week in the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal. Security will be tight at the court where the state will on consecutive days argue in three search-and-seizure appeal hearings related to investigations against Zuma.
Monhla Hlahla, MD of the Airports Company of South Africa, is riding the crest of the tourism wave. Robust domestic growth, increased business travel and the introduction of budget airlines has sent air passenger demand soaring, which is good news for a monopoly airport operator. Revenue reached R2,564-billion (up 18%) for the year ending in March.
In celebration of Women’s Month, Absa Private Bank has launched a private equity fund for women only. According to research conducted by Momentum, private equity funds have outperformed the FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index by 18% per annum over the past 13 years.
A mass free distribution of mosquito nets in Kenya that has nearly halved child deaths from malaria in high-risk areas has led the World Health Organisation to recommend for the first time that nets should be given away, rather than sold, in the developing world. In a project that is being hailed as a model for other African countries, Kenya’s ministry of health has distributed 13,5-million insecticide-treated nets across the country since 2003.