Players from a rampant Mamelodi Sundowns are poised to dominate when the Bafana Bafana squad to play Namibia in Windhoek next Wednesday is announced on Tuesday. However, it would not be surprising if a good number of South Africa’s leading overseas-based players ultimately turn out to be no more than phantom selections.
Topless porn stars have been given permission to parade through the main street of New Zealand’s biggest city on the grounds that they will not be breaking any nudity laws. About 30 porn stars are expected to take part in the ”Boobs on Bikes” parade along Auckland’s Queen Street later this month.
A 16-year-old Indonesian boy has died from bird flu, according to local test results that, if confirmed, would bring Indonesia’s death toll to 43 and make it the world’s hardest-hit country. Normally reliable tests performed at a local laboratory showed that the boy who died late on Monday had the H5N1 virus.
The new headquarters for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup will be completed and fully operational by the end of October, the South African government news agency, BuaNews, reported on Monday. This comes just 11 months after a sod-turning ceremony at what is to be the South African Football Association’s new home.
Springbok selectors added two uncapped players to their squad and recalled centre Jean de Villiers after an injury lay-off on Monday for their three remaining home Tri-Nations games. The Sharks duo of scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, who can also play flyhalf, and prop Brendon Botha were named in the 28-man squad.
Fifty years ago, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn helped lead 20 000 women in a march on white-ruled South Africa’s capital in one of the first major demonstrations against the tightening of apartheid laws. Having lived more than a decade under South Africa’s multiracial democracy, Williams-De Bruyn’s outrage has barely dimmed.
Twelve anti-war protesters were arrested by police on Monday after campaigners boarded a plane at Prestwick airport in Scotland to search for United States weapons being transported to Israel. David Mackenzie, of the campaign group Trident Ploughshares, said its activists gaining access to the plane by cutting through a fence.
Cuba’s political future remained uncertain on Monday as senior members of Fidel Castro’s government made apparently contradictory remarks about whether the President’s 47-year rule had come to an unofficial end. Castro, who will be 80 next week, transferred his powers to his brother Raúl last week as he had intestinal surgery.
The Lebanese army called up 5Â 000 reservists on Monday night to prepare for deployment along the border to try to speed up the departure of Israeli forces, the main hurdle to the United Nations Security Council adopting a ceasefire resolution. The army, regarded as neutral by Israel, has not been involved in the present conflict.
Eskom on Monday warned the public of a new ”refund” scam where criminals use Eskom and South African Revenue Service (Sars) letterheads to defraud large companies, businesses and individuals. Scam operators forge letterheads stating that an overpayment has been made and request that the money be refunded.