A pressure group has threatened to bring a class action against the government and the wine industry over the issue of alcohol abuse among farm workers. The Black Association of the Wine and Spirits Industry called on Wednesday for the establishment of an industry fund to change people’s attitudes towards drinking, and to set up an institution to treat alcoholics.
Hamas Islamist gunmen pressed on with their Gaza offensive on Wednesday, killing at least eight fighters loyal to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas in a Palestinian power struggle bordering on civil war. Chanting ”stop the killing”, about 1Â 000 Palestinians marched through Gaza City — only to draw gunfire in the air from Hamas militants.
The cost of living for an average urban family in Zimbabwe rose by 66% last month, the country’s consumer watchdog said in a report on Wednesday. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said the cost of living for a family of six increased 65,6% from Z,3-million (Â 300) in April to Z,5-million in May.
Ernie Els has been using the Golf Channel archives for some mental therapy as he battles to get back on top of his game in time for the US Open in Oakmont on Thursday. The big South African’s career took off when he won in a play-off in Oakmont in 1994 when he was just 24 years old in what was just his second US Open.
Organisers of a national reconciliation conference in Somalia due to start on Thursday have postponed it for one month in another blow to peace efforts in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation. ”The National Reconciliation Committee has decided to postpone the conference …,” committee chairperson Ali Mahdi Mohamed said.
Boosted by one of his best performances for South Africa in the recent 4-0 African Nations Cup qualifying win over Chad, Belgium-based Elrio van Heerden has learnt that fate has a habit of dealing out the wrong cards at the most inopportune moment.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis has denied suggestions that British newcomer Lewis Hamilton is being favoured over world champion Fernando Alonso in the British-based Formula One team. The Spanish driver told Spanish radio on Tuesday that ”we knew all the support and help would go his way”.
An Australian man was attacked with a sawfish snout during a burglary in the northern state of Queensland, police said. Police said two thieves broke into a caravan at Bundaberg in south-east Queensland on Tuesday night and attacked the 40-year-old occupant with the fish snout, a length of cartilage with a row of serrated teeth around its outside edge.
The JSE retained its softer tone at midday on Wednesday after an overnight drop in Wall Street, while lower commodity prices added to selling pressures. At 12.03pm, the all share index was down 0,40%. Resources lost 0,14%, while the gold and platinum mining indices fell 0,45% and 1,44% respectively.
Nigeria’s Chinua Achebe, hailed as the father of modern African writing, was awarded the £60 000 Man Booker International Prize on Wednesday. His award capped a triumphant month for Nigerian authors as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie last week landed the Orange Prize, one of the literary world’s top awards for women writers.