After starting very close to a record high, the JSE was lower at midday on Friday due to the increase in Chinese interest rates, which has sparked fears about the effect that this could have on demand for commodities, equity traders said. By 12.10pm, the all-share index was 1,34% weaker at 21 068,010.
At least 27 people were feared drowned when a cargo boat on which they were traveling capsized during a heavy storm on Lake Victoria, Tanzanian police said on Thursday. The cargo vessel MV Nyamageni was carrying 27 people and 100 crates of soda and beer from the town of Bukoba to the port of Mwanza when it capsized on Saturday.
Internet telephony provider Skype announced on Friday it now has more than 100-million registered users worldwide. Skype, which was bought last year for ,6-billion by online auctioneer eBay, said it has nearly doubled in size from September 2005 when 54-million people were using the service.
"I like to get to where I am going without a fuss. I also enjoy power steering, air conditioning and a radio for news." Cape Town mayor Helen Zille once spent an entire month’s salary on a traffic offence. She speaks to Sukasha Singh about cars.
While the government’s affirmative action and black economic empowerment (BEE) policies help a few people in South Africa, they do so at the expense of the desperate many, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. However, if such policies are implemented without sacrificing merit, it is theoretically possible to achieve a ”win-win” situation for all.
Cricket Australia on Friday opened a state-of-the-art facility that its Test team will use as a base while fine-tuning plans to regain the Ashes from England. The new Centre of Excellence in Brisbane includes a video analysis room, a top-class gymnasium and integrated sports science facilities.
United States computer software titan Microsoft reported on Thursday that third-quarter income rose 16,4% due to demand for its latest products. Net income for the quarter tallied ,89-billion, or 29 cents per share, as compared with ,3-billion for that quarter in 2005, according to Microsoft.
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The state completed its closing arguments in the Jacob Zuma rape trial on Friday, asking the Johannesburg High Court to find him guilty. Prosecutor Charin de Beer told Judge Willem van der Merwe that Zuma’s version of events should not be considered the truth.
Opposition political groups and civil society movements in Zimbabwe have started consultations to form a united front to support a single candidate in the 2008 presidential election, 23 months ahead of the crucial poll — along the lines of Kenya’s National Rainbow Coalition, which brought President Mwai Kibaki to power in 2002.
Both the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) — principal providers of scarce funds to the film industry — turned down the Oscar-winning movie Tsotsi several times when approached by its producers, the Mail & Guardian has learned.