The JSE was marginally firmer at midday on Monday, with heavyweight resources stocks keeping its head above water. Losses were seen in financials and industrials, however, and decliners outnumbered advancers on the all-share index by about three to two. By 12.10pm, the all-share index was up a marginal 0,04%.
A hiatus in South Africa’s biodiversity legislation, dealing with a proposed national electronic permit system, is inadvertently aiding a run by traffickers on the country’s endangered wildlife. According to Traffic, the world’s largest wildlife trade monitoring organisation, global wildlife trade was huge, with an annual turnover estimated at billions of dollars.
A hugely destructive cyclone described as a ”perfect” storm bore down on Monday on the isolated northern Australian city of Darwin, devastated by a killer cyclone in 1974. Packing winds of up to 350kph, Tropical Cyclone Monica was moving relentlessly towards Darwin as it turned towards the coast from the Arafura Sea, the government’s weather bureau said.
Famed test pilot and aviation pioneer Scott Crossfield, the first man to travel at twice the speed of sound, died when his plane crashed in the American state of Georgia, the Civil Air Patrol said on Thursday. He was 84. Crossfield was flying from the southern state of Alabama to Virginia when his Cessna disappeared from radar.
So far in Enron founder Kenneth Lay’s fraud and conspiracy trial, a slew of prosecution witnesses have pointed the finger at him while a few — including his co-defendant, former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling — spoke up for him. On Monday, he aims to speak for himself.
The Falcons would have come away from this weekend’s Vodacom Cup action full of self-belief as they charge towards a place in the final of the competition. With the Blue Bulls beaten by the Lions and the Falcons beating the Leopards, it looks likely that the men from the East Rand will join the Wildebeest in this year’s final on May 20.
Kaizer Chiefs, showing more composure and direction than they had in recent games, dimmed Silver Stars’ bright lights and gained a revenge 2-1 Premier Soccer League victory at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on Sunday afternoon. In the process, the Amakhosi ensured the consolation prize of finishing at least third in the log.
Three swimmers used the final evening of the Telkom South African National Championships to collect their fourth titles of the competition in Durban on Sunday. After the evening’s proceeding, Gerhard Zandberg, Melissa Corfe and Suzaan van Biljon were named as the swimmers of the competition.
A Marlon Harewood second-half super strike gave West Ham a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the FA Cup semifinal at Villa Park in Birmingham on Sunday. England Under-21 striker Harewood sealed a tense clash and clinched West Ham’s first FA Cup final appearance since 1980 with a classy finish midway through the second half.
As evening mist slowly embraces the village of Kringa in the heart of Croatia’s picturesque Istrian peninsula, a few young enthusiasts gather in a bar trying to revive the legend of a 17th-century local Dracula. Sitting in a red velvet chair in the Vampire bar, decorated with garlic wreaths and lamps with crosses, Mladen Rajko explains how local tourist authorities launched a project last year called "Jure Grando, the Vampire from Kringa".