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.
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.
The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will be far more active than usual with 17 tropical storms, of which nine will grow into hurricanes, a noted United States forecasting team founded by William Gray said on Tuesday. The 2005 season was a record-breaker with 28 storms and 15 hurricanes.
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.
Alleged threats to withdraw the passports of the South African rugby team heading for the World Cup in France in September and October have been dismissed by the Home Affairs Ministry. Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has no right simply to withdraw passports without valid reasons, her spokesperson, Cleo Mosana, said on Tuesday.
New York authorities are fuming after the developers of video game Grand Theft Auto, in which players rob and kill their way to the next level, set the latest version of the game in the city. The fourth version of the game openly features landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.