Damien Martyn blazed 96 runs from 56 balls as Australia thrashed South Africa by 95 runs on Monday in the first Twenty20 international on Australian soil. Martyn clubbed seven fours and two sixes but fell agonisingly short of the first-ever Twenty20 century when he was caught at point off Monde Zondeki in the last over.
Three people were killed and 23 injured when a tour bus overturned on the N1 south of Springfontein in the southern Free State on Monday, police said. Captain Elsa Gerber said the bus was carrying tourists from Cape Town to Johannesburg. The passengers were from New Zealand, Italy and The Netherlands.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was breathing unassisted on Monday while being gradually awoken from a deep coma so doctors can assess the extent of damage to his brain after a massive stroke. Doctors say he could survive, but have ruled out the chances of him returning as prime minister.
Survivors of the devastating earthquake that shook Kashmir three months ago are showing signs of hypothermia and frostbite, a doctor said on Monday, as temperatures plunged below zero. Survivors living in tents and tin shacks next to their ruined homes said they are also concerned about avalanches.
There are strong signs indicating a prolonged period of high fixed investment in South African commercial property in the coming years, according to FNB property economist John Loos. Real non-residential property fixed-investment growth is forecast to accelerate to 9% in 2006.
More than 1 500 people were evacuated on Monday as Cyclone Clare began to pummel Australia’s north-west coast. Communities in the Pilbara region have been placed on red alert as meteorologists predicted winds of up to 195kph and waves high enough to breach coastal defences.
The European Constitution will be taken out of the deep freeze on Monday when Austria launches its six-month presidency of the European Union with a pledge to try to revive it. Less than a year after French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty, the Austrian government will declare that Europe cannot abandon such a ”fascinating document”.
The 500 companies listed on Norway’s stock exchange face being shut down unless they install women on their boards over the next two years in a radical initiative imposed by a government determined to help women break through the ”glass ceiling”.
A Spanish army general was under house arrest on Sunday and awaiting dismissal after saying that the military might step in to halt plans for greater autonomy for the wealthy eastern region of Catalonia. Lieutenant General José Mena told officers under his command that the country’s Constitution gave them the right to act if the ”unity of Spain” was in danger.
It is a mystery that has gone on for more than a century: did the old skull lodged in an Austrian basement really belong to the greatest composer of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? The results of DNA tests seeking to solve the mystery were broadcast on Austrian TV to coincide with the 250th anniversary this month of the composer’s birth. And the answer is: we still don’t know.