The killing of a British soldier in Iraq by an American pilot was a "criminal, unlawful act" that was tantamount to manslaughter, a coroner ruled on Friday. The family of Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, who died in March 2003, wept as they were told at the inquest in Oxford that it was "an entirely avoidable tragedy".
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Herschelle Gibbs became the first man to hit six sixes in an over in a one-day international and Jacques Kallis smashed an unbeaten century as South Africa inflicted a 221-run World Cup defeat on The Netherlands in St Kitts and Nevis on Friday. Gibbs hit a robust 40-ball 72 coupled with Kallis’s unbeaten 128.
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New Zealand drew first blood against England as they won the teams’ World Cup group-C opener by six wickets in St Lucia on Friday. Chasing 210 for victory, New Zealand finished on 210 for four with nine overs to spare after having recovered from 19 for three in five overs.
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South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs hit six sixes in one over against The Netherlands at the World Cup on Friday, setting an international record. The 33-year-old Gibbs smashed the first three balls from legspinner Daan van Bunge over the short boundary straight down the ground at Warner Park in the 30th over.
As the Democratic Alliance welcomed a decision by the Public Protector, Auditor General and director of public prosecutions to separately investigate new areas of concern around the arms deal, the Independent Democrats said it meant ”absolutely nothing”. Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana, National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli and Auditor General Terence Nombembe met on Thursday evening.
Three secret microphones and a hidden camera were discovered in Fidentia’s Cape Town boardroom in a sweep for electronic bugs after curators took over the business, the city’s magistrate’s court heard on Friday. This emerged during a bail application by Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown and fellow director and accountant Graham Maddock.
The heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank urged developed countries on Friday to boost aid flows to Africa and to do so fairly and predictably. ”There is a need for more aid, but there is also a need for better aid,” IMF managing director Rodrigo de Rato told reporters in Cape Town.
A court challenge to the incorporation of the Merafong municipality into the North West will be welcomed by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi. ”We generally know that the Khutsong community wants to approach the Constitutional Court — and the minister welcomes that,” a spokesperson said this week.
Zimbabwe’s opposition vowed to finish off its campaign to topple President Robert Mugabe as its leader left hospital in a wheelchair on Friday following his beating at the hands of the security services. Senior Movement for Democratic Change officials and other opposition leaders promised to take to the streets again to demonstrate against the government.
Shopkeepers in Pretoria’s city centre barricaded their stores on Friday as a few thousand protesting students, demanding free education, marched to Pretoria Station after handing over a memorandum to education officials. The students belonged to the Congress of South African Students.