MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews the Oscar nominated feature Capote.
Parliament has rebuffed suggestions that National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete’s R471 900 trip to attend the inauguration of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Monrovia in January was a ”joyride across Africa”. The Mail & Guardian reported on the expensive trip on Friday.
The New South Wales (NSW) Waratahs smashed the Auckland Blues 43-9 to pick up a bonus point and move to the top of the Super 14 ladder here on Friday. The Waratahs leapt above the Canterbury Crusaders in their four-tries-to-nil thrashing of the inconsistent Blues to underline their claims to go one better than last year’s final loss to the Crusaders.
The Wellington Hurricanes overtook the Canterbury Crusaders as leaders of the Super 14 rugby competition on Friday by beating South Africa’s Sharks 23-17 to start off the seventh round. The Crusaders had a bye as the regular season reached its halfway point.
Talk Radio 702 has been granted an application for the amendment of its commercial licence to allow the station to migrate to FM frequencies 92.7 MHz in Johannesburg and 106 MHz in Pretoria. ”It is a historic announcement and the best news we’ve had in 702’s 25-year history,” station manager Pheladi Gwangwa said.
A feasibility study is under way into a second nuclear power station to provide relief for the blackout-plagued Cape, the public enterprises ministry confirmed on Friday. Gaynor Kast, spokesperson for Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin, was reacting to a report that Erwin had said the new plant would be sited at Koeberg, alongside the existing power station.
Zambia’s ruling party on Friday endorsed a controversial new electoral bill which seeks to give President Levy Mwanawasa stronger mandate over the conduct of general elections to be held later this year. The bill aims to correct a constitutional anomaly on who should set the date of the elections.
The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia appealed for a ceasefire on Friday as thousands continue to flee the capital Mogadishu as heavy fighting between rival militias entered its third day, killing about 60 people. ”I urge all sides to consider the loss of life, injuries and other suffering caused to hundreds of families this week.”
Andie Miller explores four decades in the life of Athol Fugard’s novel <i>Tsotsi</i>.
Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba, who is facing several corruption charges, left on Friday for South Africa for medical treatment, his spokesperson said. ”He left the country this morning on a chartered plane,” Emmanuel Mwamba told Agence France-Presse, but declined to give details on his ailment.