South African Football Association (Safa) boss Raymond Hack had to undergo surgery to his eye after being assaulted in a robbery at his home in Waverley, Johannesburg, the association said on Tuesday. Hack told the police he was alone at home on Monday and woke for gym at 5am to find two bedroom lights on in the house, said police spokesperson Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht.
The City of Cape Town says it will fight a bid to block the proposed Green Point stadium and is going ahead with construction. The city’s 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje, confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that its had been served with papers by a civic group seeking to halt the R2,9-billion project.
United States House speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Syria on Tuesday for a controversial two-day visit amid protests from the White House that she is undermining US policy. Pelosi, an ardent opponent of US President George Bush, smiled and shook hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
Britain said on Tuesday the way was open for diplomacy to secure the release of 15 British sailors and marines seized by Iran in the Gulf, but the next 48 hours would be critical. The two countries have been at loggerheads since Iran seized the sailors on March 23 in the northern Gulf, but there have been few tangible signs of progress in the 12-day stand-off.
The City of Johannesburg ended talks on Tuesday aimed at bringing an end to a two-month long Metrobus strike, with city bosses optimistic that an agreement would be signed with the union. ”We are fairly optimistic that they [the South African Municipal Workers’ Union] will sign,” said city spokesperson Gabu Tugwana.
United States President George Bush said on Tuesday US troops would suffer if a deadlock with Congress over war funding continues, scolding US lawmakers for going on holiday leaving business unfinished. If Congress did not approve a war funding Bill, ”… the price of that failure will be paid by our troops and their loved ones”, Bush told reporters.
The extensive ATM network in South Africa could be used more efficiently if Saswitch fees, paid by customers for using ATMS of banks other than their own, were eliminated, First National Bank (FNB) said on Tuesday. ”If adopted by all banks, this will save South Africans R500-million in Saswitch fees annually,” said FNB chief executive Michael Jordaan.
The 2010 World Cup local organising committee (LOC) has not discussed police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s proposal to legalise prostitution and public drinking for the duration of the tournament. Speaking at a press briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday, LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan said the committee had noted the idea but had not made any decisions.
The first boatloads of aid arrived on Tuesday in the Solomon Islands tsunami zone to aid desperate survivors, as more bodies were found amid the rubble triggered by a massive undersea earthquake. Flights over remote coastal villages in the stricken Western Province of the islands on Tuesday reported widespread destruction.
Italian researchers have found the skeleton of a 10m-long prehistoric whale in the Tuscan countryside, a discovery that could help shed light on the ancient environment of the sea, officials said on Tuesday. The skeleton dates to four million years ago, to the Pliocene epoch, and was found in almost perfect order.