There is no certainty that if South Africa’s petrol price is deregulated that it will stay down, a senior official of the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs told MPs on Wednesday. Addressing the National Assembly minerals and energy committee, the chief director of hydrocarbons, Nhlanhla Gumede, asked the question whether, indeed, the consequence of deregulation would be that the price would go up.
Reaction in Pakistan to the ball-tampering row at the fourth Test against England has spiralled from initial dismay to a darkening mood of racial, religious and political undertones. The cartoon in a Pakistani Islamist newspaper on Wednesday has Australian umpire Darrell Hair dressed in a Nato uniform growling: ”I am also waging a war against terrorism.”
Olympic champion Justin Gatlin was banned for up to eight years after agreeing that his positive drugs test constituted a doping violation, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said on Tuesday. The actual length of the ban, which came into effect on August 15, will be determined by an arbitration panel.
Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed an ancient water system which was modified by the conquering Persians to turn the desert into a paradise. The network of reservoirs, drain pipes and underground tunnels served one of the grandest palaces in the biblical kingdom of Judea.
Iran’s standing in the Middle East has been bolstered by United States President George Bush’s ”war on terror” and its power will continue to grow unless stability is restored to its neighbours, a top think tank said on Tuesday. Seeing a regional political void opening, Iran had moved swiftly to fill it, it said, and now has a level of influence which cannot be ignored.
Dozens of schoolgirls killed by the air force, Muslims massacred by Tamil Tiger rebels, civilians targeted by both sides. But with occasional fighting still erupting, physically finding the corpses is hard enough. Local populations have fled and finding witnesses is harder than at any stage during the four year truce.
Mining magnate Roger Kebble will stand trial for fraud related to tax evasion in March next year, the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court ruled on Wednesday. In an early-morning appearance, the date for the trial was set for March 19 and 20. When he returns to court, Kebble will face five charges of fraud.
Zimbabwe has acquired another six jet fighters from its ally China for use by the air force, state media reported on Wednesday. The Herald quoted Defence Secretary Trust Maposa as telling lawmakers that the Chinese-made K-8 jets would be delivered within the next two months.
Thousands of people — almost all of them men — lined the main street of New Zealand’s biggest city on Wednesday as 25 topless porn stars paraded on motor bikes and two old army tanks. Businessmen, schoolboys and Japanese tourists lined Auckland’s Queen Street to watch the ”Boobs on Bikes” parade, which went ahead despite the winter chill.
A Pakistan-born Australian architect was jailed for 20 years on Wednesday for planning bomb attacks in Sydney, a court official said. Pakistan-born Faheem Khalid Lodhi had planned to detonate home-made bombs in Australia’s largest city as part of a ”holy war”, the New South Wales Supreme Court was told during his trial.