A woman who fought a court battle to win back five valuable paintings by Gustav Klimt taken from her heirs by the Nazis will sell the remaining works from her collection after the first fetched a record -million. United States-based Maria Altmann, niece of the Bloch-Bauers who originally owned the paintings, has hired Christie’s to handle the sale of works.
Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo has said he wants to hold long-delayed elections by the end of the year but insisted he will stay in office in the war-divided nation until they take place. His statement late on Sunday on the eve of Independence Day appeared to throw down the gauntlet to the United Nations which must decide next month whether to further extend Gbagbo’s mandate.
”Is it time to wash our hands of the country and find a stable life somewhere else?” The question in Girl Blog from Iraq was posted only last weekend by an anonymous young Iraqi woman whose weblog has now been adapted into a theatrical documentary at the Edinburgh Fringe arts festival.
Nedbank is putting its money where its mouth is — delivering on the commitments it made to shareholders as part of its turnaround strategy two years ago. Monday saw the group report a massive 50,5% growth in headline earnings to R2,1-billion for the six months to the end of June.
A two-day judicial inquest to determine who, if anybody, could be held responsible for the plane crash which claimed the life of Hansie Cronje starts in the Cape High Court on Monday. Cronje, the former captain of the national cricket team, died on June 1 2002, when the Hawker Siddeley 748 aircraft he was travelling in crashed near to George aerodrome en-route from Bloemfontein.
South Africa’s gold and foreign exchange reserves edged up during July, but at a slow pace, showing that the country’s central bank was inactive in currency markets while the rand remained volatile. Figures from the South African Reserve Bank showed that net reserves rose to ,447-billion at the end of July from ,185-billion at the end of June.
Tiger Woods withstood a late challenge from Jim Furyk to secure his 50th career title at the Buick Open on Sunday. Fresh from his British Open victory, Woods made it back-to-back wins after carding his fourth consecutive round of 66 to finish three shots clear of Furyk with a total of 24-under 264.
Muttiah Muralitharan equalled his own world record of four consecutive 10-wicket hauls as Sri Lanka were set 352 to win the second cricket Test against South Africa in Colombo on Monday. The prolific off-spinner, who claimed five wickets in the first innings, finished with 7-97 in the second as South Africa were bowled out for 311 in the first hour of the fourth day’s play at the Sara Oval.
Conflict between North West Premier Edna Molewa and senior cabinet members over alleged corruption in the provincial government has been highlighted in confidential documents leaked to the Mail & Guardian. In one she questions former minister of agriculture Ndleleni Duma’s authorisation of a corruption investigation into the North West’s crisis-ridden agriculture department.
With every rasping breath Priscilla Govender takes the pain is visible on her face. The air clanks in her lungs as it struggles to move through the mucus in her respiratory system and she can barely speak. For a 47-year-old, she is frail, looking and moving like someone almost twice her age.