The mother of jailed Chinese journalist Shi Tao wept and punched the air on Monday as she accepted a press-freedom award on her son’s behalf from world media bosses in Cape Town. "He has only done what any courageous journalist should do," Gao Qinsheng told an annual gathering of the World Association of Newspapers.
A new daily newspaper, the Times, will be delivered to the homes of 120Â 000 subscribers of the Sunday Times from Tuesday. ”The newspaper will navigate its busy readers through their day, ensuring that they know about key events that impact on them in a clear and simple way,” editor of the Times Ray Hartley said in a statement on Monday.
Nine players have returned to the Springbok squad ahead of Saturday’s Test against Samoa in Johannesburg, team manager Zola Yeye said on Monday. Hooker Bismarck du Plessis, flanks Luke Watson, Wikus van Heerden and Pedrie Wannenburg, flyhalf Derick Hougaard, centres Wayne Julies and Waylon Murray, wing JP Pietersen and lock Johan Ackermann are back in the camp.
China sought to defend its role in Africa on Monday ahead of this week’s G8 summit, saying its long friendship with the continent was a force for good. some G8 ministers are worried Beijing is too willing to lend money without strings to African countries.
Former senior Fidentia employees are to be interrogated as the company’s curators hunt for money to return to investors, Moneyweb reported on Monday. It said at least ten people have received subpoenas for an ”examination” before the curators in terms of the Financial Institutions Act later this month.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has described himself as the world’s only ”pure” democrat and attacked the United States and Europe, which have criticised him, for falling short of their own ideals. In an interview released on Monday, he rejected criticism that he has centralised power in the Kremlin, marginalised the opposition and increased state control over the media.
President Thabo Mbeki on Monday called on the media to provide what he described as accurate and properly contextualised information. ”We in Africa can and do benefit from criticism, but we do ask that it should be based on accurate information …,” he told the 60th World Association of Newspapers congress and 14th World Editors’ Forum in Cape Town.
United States hotel heiress and Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton, known for her non-stop partying and high-society romps, has begun serving a 23-day jail sentence for violating her probation, according to prison records. An entry at the Los Angeles County Inmate Information Centre said Hilton (26) had been processed into the jail system and given a booking number.
The melting of the Earth’s ice and snow is accelerating the effects of global warming and could trigger wider-ranging impacts on people, economies and wildlife, the United Nations warned in a report on Monday. ”If snow and ice continue to melt, this will amplify global warming,” report author Paal Prestrud told a press conference in Norway.
South African new vehicle sales declined by 1,7% year-on-year in May and the sector’s short-term outlook could be undermined by possible interest-rate rises. The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) said on Monday 51 684 new units were sold in May compared with 52 574 the same month last year.