England captain Michael Vaughan has been ruled out of the Ashes tour of Australia after a fourth operation on his right knee, the BBC reported on Thursday. The Yorkshire batsman went under the knife on Monday, still clinging to the hope that he could be fit in time to lead England on the tour, which begins in November.
Somali Muslims who fail to perform daily prayers will be killed in accordance with Qur’anic law under a new edict issued by a leading cleric in the Islamic courts union that controls Mogadishu. The requirement for Muslims to observe the five-times daily ritual under penalty of death was announced late on Wednesday.
United States aerospace giant Boeing is well placed to win a multibillion-dollar deal to provide strategic transport aircraft and helicopters to Canada. The Canadian government last week announced plans to purchase 16 helicopters for Can,7-billion (,2-billion), and 21 military transport planes for Can,3-billion (,4-billion).
The Wallabies paid public homage to the All Blacks on Thursday, as both sides clamoured for underdog status going into the opening Tri-Nations rugby Test. The All Blacks ”are the best team in the world at the moment,” offered Wallabies coach John Connolly, as he dismissed suggestions his side would go into Saturday’s Test on the front foot.
The JSE was in positive territory in noon trade on Thursday, helped by stronger European markets and higher commodity prices. It was another quiet morning and just over R2-billion worth of shares had changed hands. By 12.03pm, the all share and all share industrial indices added 1,23% and 0,95% respectively.
The final round of talks in the petroleum sector on Wednesday failed to resolve differences between the parties, and mediation in the chemical bargaining council did not result in an agreement, trade union Solidarity said on Thursday. "Employers offer a 5,5% increase, while our members are demanding 10%," said spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.
An injury-ravaged Springbok team leave South Africa on Thursday night for the southern hemisphere’s Tri-Nations competition with Australia and New Zealand with speculation rife their coach will head to England at the completion of the matches in September.
Radical Islamic militia fighters in central Somalia shot and killed two people at the screening of a banned World Cup soccer broadcast, an independent radio station reported. The Islamic fighters, who have banned such entertainment, were dispersing a crowd of teenagers watching the Germany-Italy match.
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Luiz Felipe Scolari says Portugal can be proud of its football team despite their agonising loss to France, as he goes about the difficult task of picking them up for a third-placed play-off match. He warned Italy they will have their work cut out against France in the final in Berlin on Sunday, while paying tribute to his players who matched Portugal’s best World Cup campaign.
Israeli forces moved further into northern Gaza early on Thursday morning after Palestinian militants succeeded in hitting the Israeli city of Askelon with rockets for the second night running. Palestinian sources said gunmen tried to engage the tanks and armoured personnel carriers after they moved from border areas to positions close to settlements that were evacuated by Israel 10 months ago.