Ethiopia on Friday freed 38 opposition members sentenced to jail this week for treason, inciting violence and trying to overthrow the government, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. Rights groups and donor governments had complained the trial was politically motivated.
The Open Championship organisers on Friday defended a referee accused of giving Tiger Woods preferential treatment, despite evidence that he had mistakenly offered the world number one an advantageous free drop. Woods was offered the drop by referee Alan Holmes after his ball came to rest beside television cabling in light rough during his first round on Thursday.
South African athletes have won only seven medals on the first two days of the athletics competition at the ninth All Africa Games in Algiers. Sixteen events have so far been completed and the results show that SA athletes managed three silver and four bronze medals.
The public has the right to know about complaints against medical practitioners, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said on Friday. HPCSA registrar Boyce Mkhize said in a statement that the public had a right to check the credentials and misconduct record of healthcare practitioners in South Africa.
China’s auditors have found more than ,2-billion in problem loans at three top banks, highlighting the ongoing poor credit practices in the financial system, the government said on Friday. The questionable loans were found at two of the nation’s largest — Bank of China and the Bank of Communications.
The JSE all-share index was in positive territory at midday on Friday as the gold-mining index shone brightly on the local bourse after tracking Shanghai on Friday night — which was up 4% — according to a local trader. At noon the all-share index was up 0,62%.
Israel freed more than 250 Palestinian prisoners met by joyful relatives on Friday, in the biggest such release in two years intended to bolster president Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas. Seven buses carrying handcuffed men from Israel’s Ketziot Prison and an eighth carrying seven women drove slowly through the Beitunya checkpoint at the entrance to Ramallah.
Afghanistan’s Taliban movement said on Saturday it had killed the second German hostage after the group’s demands were ignored, a spokesperson for the militant group said. The couple were shot dead in Ghazni province which lies to the south-west of the capital, Kabul.
Flyhalf Daniel Carter kicked seven penalties around a solitary try to prop Tony Woodcock as New Zealand beat Australia 26-12 on Saturday to win the Tri-Nations rugby series. Carter landed four goals in the first half, three in the second and missed only one of eight attempts to lift the All Blacks to a win over a dogged Australian team.
Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride appeared briefly in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday morning and was granted bail of R1Â 000. McBride faces charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, defeating the ends of justice and fraud. McBride also faces alternative charges of reckless or negligent driving, conspiracy and incitement.