It started out as a flight of whimsy, a tongue-in-cheek radio variety programme in front of a live audience of 12, at first broadcast only in Minnesota. Since then the programme launched in 1974 by Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion, has snowballed into an American phenomenon with four million listeners a week on 600 radio stations.
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A high-ranking Fifa official was sent home from the World Cup in disgrace on Saturday after admitting he sold World Cup tickets for three times face value. Fifa president Sepp Blatter said he was ”furious” after Botswana’s Ismail Bhamjee confirmed he sold tickets at inflated prices.
South Africa’s trade relations with juggernaut China will be put to the test this week when Premier Wen Jiabao jets into Cape Town for talks centred around China’s mighty textile industry. The SA economy has been hit hard in its own textiles sector by cheap imports from China and President Thabo Mbeki’s government has come under increasing pressure to deal with the problem.
In the atmosphere of despair that hangs over Liege, the biggest shock is to see children innocently enjoying themselves. As Adrienne, five, launches herself for the umpteenth time down a playground slide, her grandmother, Christine Maertens, sits on a bench thinking back.
North Korea directed its people to hoist the national flag and await a state message on television on Sunday, a Japanese newspaper said, amid reports the North was planning a new missile test. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said North Korea’s reported instruction might not be linked to the missile launch, saying it could be preparations for another national event.
A 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday morning after he allegedly threatened a South African Airways (SAA) crew member with a syringe shortly after a plane took-off from the Cape Town International airport. Cape Town resident Yunus Ismail was sitting in his business class seat when he saw the man walking towards the cockpit with an air hostess.
Leaders of four of the largest opposition parties were united on Saturday in their condemnation of floor-crossing and calling for its abolition. Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon and his Inkatha Freedom Party and Freedom Front Plus counterparts Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Pieter Mulder, and African Christian Democratic Party MP Steve Swart, shared a stage in an anti-defection rally.
An uninspired Springboks outfit managed to scrape through to a 29-15 victory over Scotland to end up 2-0 in their two Test series played at the Eastern Province Rugby Union stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. The home side offered little on the day as they came under some unrelenting pressure from a determined Scottish pack.
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Portugal qualified for the World Cup knock-out stages for the first time in 40 years on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Iran. Iran offered robust resistance for more than an hour before Brazilian-born Deco’s unstoppable opener. Cristiano Ronaldo settled the matter with a penalty 10 minutes from the end.
A Pretoria Correctional Services official was arrested following a high-speed chase during which traffic officers reported speeds topping 200kph, the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) said on Saturday. RTI spokesperson Rajen Govender said the Correctional Services assistant director was initially flagged down by RTI officers after he went through a speed trap at 168kph on the N3 near Cedara, north of Pietermaritzburg.