Public-service unions on Sunday said there would be no wage deal with until at least Wednesday. Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha said unions needed more time to consult members on government’s final proposal.
In spite of gaining a valuable bonus point it is almost certaint that the Springbok Tri-Nations campaign is all but over as they face a long haul to Australia to face the Wallabies in Sydney on July 7. Physically, it was the All Black powerhouses off the bench, fullback Leon MacDonald and Luke McAllister, that turned the tables on the Springboks.
Australia coach John Connolly wants the value of drop goals reduced from three points to one to prevent the game being dominated by kicking. Connolly said the whole purpose of rugby was for teams to try and score tries but the three points available for drop goals was persuading teams to take the easier option.
An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced to death Saddam Hussein’s cousin, widely known as ”Chemical Ali”, for masterminding a genocidal campaign against Iraq’s ethnic Kurds in the 1980s. A tired-looking Ali Hassan al-Majeed, wearing traditional Arab robes, trembled as the judge read the verdict, one witness said.
South Africans may hope the ruling African National Congress (ANC) finds new ways to fight social ills at its conference this week, but any policy debate will likely be overshadowed by a succession battle that has plunged the party into turmoil. Analysts say they expect closed-door meetings to focus on forming alliances ahead of a congress in December that will choose a new leader for the party.
American indie rock kings The Killers rounded off the second day of the Glastonbury festival with a storming one-and-a-half hour set that left the main stage audience cheering for more. ”Glastonbury, we are all yours!” front man Brandon Flowers in gold lamé shouted as the Las Vegas group lit up the art and music festival where heavy rain ensured the traditional mud bath.
Britain’s Ricky Hatton knocked out Jose Luis Castillo of Mexico in the fourth round to retain his IBO light welterweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday. The end came two minutes 16 seconds into the round when a Hatton left hook to the ribcage caused Castillo to grimace in agony, turn away, and fall to one knee, where he remained while referee Joe Cortez counted to ten.
Jay Williamson, who is ranked 299th in the world, shot a three-under 67 to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the -million dollars PGA Travelers Championship. Williamson, who entered Saturday’s round tied for the lead with David Toms at eight-under, is at 11-under 199.
Three under-aged boys have died after their penises were severely mutilated during separate initiation ceremonies in Port St Johns and Potchefstroom on Saturday, the Health Department said. In the Port St Johns incident, the illegal initiation school was run by a 17-year-old boy.
Four foreign hostages employed by oil services giant Schlumberger were released unharmed on Saturday after more than three weeks in captivity, security sources said. The men, from Britain, France, The Netherlands and Pakistan, were abducted on June 1 from the company’s residential compound in Nigeria’s oil capital Port Harcourt by kidnappers disguised as riot police.