The heat is on for United States Ryder Cup hopefuls with just three nerve-jangling tournaments remaining before the 12-man team is decided. After this month’s PGA Championship at Medinah in Illinois, the top 10 in the Cup standings will automatically qualify to take on Europe at the K Club in Ireland from September 22-24.
South Africa’s Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) reported on Wednesday that a raid took place last week by four Zimbabwe police officers on the office of its counterpart, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Cosatu said the policemen confiscated over 2 000 flyers which contained information about the ZCTU’s campaign against high taxation.
Wild buffalo have taken over a small town in Canada’s far north, but unlike stray cats, pigeons, and other nuisance animals, these massive bovine pests can smash a truck, a local official said on Tuesday. The so-called wood bison wandered into Fort Providence in the North-west Territories in May.
Kumba Resources will meet with striking trade unions on Wednesday to discuss a final revised wage-settlement offer made by the resources company on Thursday and Friday last week. The unions involved are National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the Building, Allied, Mining and Construction Workers’ Union.
A spokesperson from the South African Reserve Bank has confirmed Wednesday’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting had started and everything is "running according to schedule". A survey of 13 economists by I-Net Bridge has found that the consensus forecast is for a 50 basis point rate-hike on Thursday.
Second seed Maria Sharapova overcame a slow start against fellow Russian Vasilisa Bardina before reeling off 10 of the last 11 games to record a 6-4 6-1 second-round victory at the Acura Classic on Tuesday. Earlier, eighth seed Martina Hingis marched into the third round with a 6-2 6-3 win over American Meilen Tu.
Fidel Castro told his people he was in good spirits and stable after surgery that has raised speculation his illness might be the beginning of the end of his 47-year rule. Days short of his 80th birthday, Castro issued a statement on Tuesday playing down talk he might be at death’s door after an operation to halt stomach bleeding that forced him to temporarily relinquish power to his 75-year-old brother, Raul.
The familiar bearded face gazes out from a billboard over a sunlit old Havana beside the reassuring slogan ”Vamos bien”. Close by, another poster wishes the world’s longest-serving leader a happy birthday and calls for ”another 80” years. Now, however, for the first time since he led his rebel army into Havana in 1959, the man who epitomises Cuba has stepped down, albeit temporarily.
Rape charges against a Durban Roman Catholic priest have been withdrawn on humanitarian grounds, media reports said on Wednesday. His doctor told the Durban Regional Court on Tuesday that the 75-year-old cleric was very ill, suffered from dementia and could not appear, let alone defend himself against the charges.
A couple who made a living performing unlicensed liposuctions in the basement of a family home in Massachusetts may face charges of manslaughter or murder after a woman died during a procedure. Luiz Carlos Ribeiro and Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, both 49-year-old Brazilian citizens, have been charged with practising medicine without a licence.