Hong Kong will ban the sale of live poultry in markets within three years in a move aimed at averting an outbreak of deadly bird flu, the city’s political leader said on Thursday. Chief executive Donald Tsang told the legislature that while the territory was closely monitoring the spread of the H5N1 virus in China, it should also remain on guard.
The JSE was roaring ahead in noon trade on Thursday, fuelled by soaring precious metals prices. Firmer world markets gave the move added impetus. By 12.14pm, the all-share index added 1,35%. Resources rallied 2,15%, with the gold- and platinum-mining indices jumping 3,6% and 2,8% respectively.
Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira wants his team to play with a smile on their faces at this year’s World Cup — so has ruled out imposing a sex ban. While Parreira’s predecessor Luis Felipe Scolari ran a famously strict regime during the 2002 finals, a more relaxed mood will prevail in Germany — and that includes as much sex as his players want.
The price of platinum on Thursday surged to an all-time high of $1 086 an ounce, eclipsing its previous all- time best of $1 085/oz established on February 3, on the back of gains in gold and silver, analysts said. At about noon on Thursday, gold climbed above $580/oz for the first time since January 1980.
Workers have abandoned a third attempt to cap a poisonous gas leak from a drilling site in south-western China that has forced the evacuation of almost 15 000 residents, state media reported on Thursday. Officials said they were struggling to raise supplies and funds for the evacuees, lending a note of urgency to the capping work.
Rampaging hippopotamuses have destroyed crops of resettled and communal farmers in Masvingo in the past few weeks, Zimbabwe’s Herald newspaper reported on Thursday. It said some farmers had now lost all hope of harvesting anything this season.
Zimbabwe, known for its spectacular Victoria Falls and game parks, suffered a 49% drop in tourism revenue last year, compared with 2004, a state daily reported on Thursday. Tourist arrivals from overseas declined by 39% in 2005 from the previous year, while those from Africa also went down 11%.
Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile is keeping his distance from the controversy over the proposed Green Point soccer stadium, his spokesperson Bongi Sishi said on Thursday. He was speaking ahead of a meeting on Thursday afternoon between Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, and the Fifa local organising committee, which hopes to allay Zille’s concerns over the project.
Africa must impose severe punishment on mercenaries and terrorists to stamp out the scourge, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said late on Wednesday. Obiang arrived on Wednesday for a three-day state visit to Zimbabwe aimed at deepening cooperation after Harare two years ago thwarted an alleged coup against the leader.
Growth in the use of the internet has come off its sizzling pace, even as people become more dependent on cyberspace for work and leisure, a global survey showed on Wednesday. Ipsos Insight’s Face of the Web study showed the global online population grew just 5% last year, well behind 2004’s 20% growth rate.