Cape Judge President John Hlophe has denied a claim that he received a R10Â 000-a-month retainer from a company involved in a lawsuit against a fellow judge. The allegation is contained in an article to be published in the investigative magazine noseweek. However, Hlophe said briefly on Friday: ”I’m not on any retainer.”
Cape Town’s city manager, Wallace Mgoqi, has been asked by the Democratic Alliance-led administration not to come to work until question marks over his contract have been resolved, mayoral spokesperson Robert Macdonald said on Friday. The contract was renewed by then mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo, whose African National Congress lost the city to an alliance of the DA and smaller parties.
Microsoft said at the start of a final day of hearings with European Union (EU) regulators on Friday that it was more optimistic about its antitrust battle and still hoped to stave off fines of â,¬2-million (,4-million) a day. The hearing is the company’s last chance to defend itself before the EU decides whether to levy the fines.
Iran’s paramilitary revolutionary guards (IRGC) said on Friday that a new missile was successfully tested during a naval manoeuvre, the news network Khabar reported. The IRCG air-force commander, General Hossein Salami, told Khabar that the new missile was among ”Iran’s new missile generation” and more modern than the previous Iranian missile types.
Kenyan authorities on Friday destroyed about 1,2 tonnes of cocaine seized in 2004, a record haul that had become the subject of corruption and evidence-tampering allegations. The drugs were incinerated at a medical research facility in Nairobi under tight security following a March 21 court order issued on the request of the director of public prosecution Keraiko Tobiko.
Zimbabwe’s arms cache saga is ”far from over” even though the state has dropped charges against eight of the nine accused, a cabinet minister was reported as saying on Friday. ”People should not read anything into the state’s withdrawal of charges against [opposition] Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists before plea,” said the Manica Post newspaper, quoting Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi.
The Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday granted bail of R20 000 to Riaz Kadwa, the son of murdered Park Lane Clinic plastic surgeon Mohamed Anwar Kadwa. Mohamed Kadwa (50) and his wife Muneira (49) were shot dead in the bedroom of their home in Crown North, Mayfair, on October 5 last year.
It’s safe to say that the Flaming Lips are a world unto their own. Their concerts are a psychedelic swirl of balloons, animal costumes and strobe lights — and that’s saying nothing about the fake blood. After the Lips’ last album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, its new opus, At War with the Mystics is comparatively normal.
Portia Simpson Miller — popularly known as ”Sista P” – pledged to rid Jamaica of violent crime plaguing the country, root out corruption and protect human rights as she was sworn in as the Caribbean nation’s first female prime minister. Born in the rural parish of St Catherine, Simpson Miller became a long-serving member of Parliament.
The Auckland Blues answered their critics with a 30-17 win over the Northern Bulls in Auckland on Friday to produce their third win from seven matches and put a dent in the Bulls’ hopes of making the Super 14 top four. The inconsistent Blues have been under the microscope in the past week, with a host of rugby brains called in to help exorcise the ineptness that has plagued their season.