British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party was at the centre of an investigation on Thursday launched by the party itself into a series of large loans received last year. Labour’s treasurer initiated the inquiry after revealing on Wednesday evening that he had not been informed about the loans given to the party by wealthy supporters in the run-up to last May’s general election.
President George Bush’s place in history — standard-bearer or war-mongerer — is perhaps being decided at this moment in Iraq, three years after the United States-led invasion. Bush recognised the gravity of the current situation in Iraq by saying that Iraqis were at ”a moment of choosing.” But in the end they had turned away from ”the abyss” of civil war, he said.
A trend toward building ever bigger cruise ships, such as a 3 600-passenger vessel to be launched in June, has some industry experts wondering whether it might be too much of a good thing. Cruise lines taunt dream vacations at sea, complete with Broadway-style shows, cinemas, gourmet food and even artificial waves for surfing.
The latest version of the legendary video game Final Fantasy was launched in Japan on Thursday, with its creators comparing the intricate work to great architecture. The launch of the mythological role-playing game, played on the PlayStation 2, comes four years after the 11th edition of the game.
Orlando Pirates squandered chances and came out two points poorer in the intense Premier Soccer League title race after a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Free State Stars at Ellis Park on Wednesday night. The draw was nothing less than a calamity for the Buccaneers.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>The possibility of Jacob Zuma having contracted HIV from the woman he allegedly raped was discussed in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday. The former deputy president has said he had unprotected and consensual sex with the woman on November 2 last year. Virology specialist Professor Desmond Martin told the court the risk of acquiring the virus through unprotected sex is three in 10 000.
A tele-recruiter of the South African National Blood Service has been suspended after telling a blood donor she was HIV-positive as a joke, media reports said on Thursday. The donor, a 19-year-old student, said: ”It was a very cruel joke. HIV/Aids is a serious matter that one cannot joke about.”
A senior United Nations official on Wednesday called on politicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) not to disappoint the Congolese people during presidential and general elections on June 18. ”The Congolese people have very high expectations for democratic elections,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, deputy UN secretary general.
After 120 years of convincing companies of the merits of listing and being publicly traded, the JSE will on June 5 list on its own main board, joining peers including the London Stock Exchange. The move is the culmination of about five years of restructuring the bourse.
The JSE’s bull run may have resulted in capital growth of more than 50% a year for nearly three years, but it’s not run out of steam just yet — at least, that’s the view of Stanlib, which is still advising the hundreds of intermediaries marketing its funds to recommend to their clients that they continue to be "overweight" equities.