No image available
/ 19 December 2005
North Rand police on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old man believed to be a hijacking and robbery kingpin, at his hideout in Tembisa. Spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said the man was wanted in connection with 14 cases of armed robbery in Gauteng.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
The Irish rock star Bono and the world’s richest couple, Bill and Melinda Gates, were on Sunday named winners of the seasonal ritual known as Time magazine’s person or persons of the year award. Time gave its accolade to the threesome ”for being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow”.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
South Africa’s Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk acknowledged on Monday that current legislation did not prescribe ambient air quality standards relating to emissions from bulk fuel storage facilities. Recognising the limits of the existing legislation, his department was "in the process of promulgating standards for benzene and other hydrocarbons".
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
In the wake of the continuing fuel shortage in South Africa, Minister of Minerals and Energy Lindiwe Hendricks has called for fuel companies operating in South Africa to reimburse motorists for the payments they receive for storing extra stocks of petrol and diesel, meaning the industry could face a collective payment of about R60-million.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
There are supposed to be two sides to every story, but I suspect there may be more. No, I am not talking about the latest twist in the axed deputy president Jacob “JZ” Zuma saga, involving an alleged rape and goodness knows what else to come. I am talking about a bizarre medical breakthrough that has been engineered in a hospital in the French city of Lyons.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
South Africa’s high HIV prevalence has been described as the biggest challenge facing the country since apartheid. In light of this, one would expect to be bombarded with Aids-prevention messages on radio, television, billboards and bus stops. Yet some say that not enough of these messages are available.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
Two highly placed Liberian government officials are said to be involved in ”plans to cause instability and chaos in the country”, the interim government said in a statement recently. Although they did not name any group, the government said ”a full investigation into the matter has been launched and is already gathering evidence on suspected individuals”.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
The film is set in Japan, the characters are quintessentially Japanese and the actress in the title role is … Chinese. Memoirs of a Geisha is the latest film highlighting how few Japanese have made it in Hollywood. Based on a novel that raised hackles in Japan for allegedly depicting the traditional hostesses as prostitutes, the movie had a lukewarm reception on its opening weekend in Japan.
No image available
/ 19 December 2005
It certainly won’t be pretty. But nothing about the chaotic political life of the Democratic Republic of Congo ever has been. Nevertheless, the 25-million voters of this Central African giant are expected to deliver a resounding ”yes” in Sunday’s constitutional referendum.
No image available
/ 18 December 2005
Congolese began voting on Sunday in a constitutional poll that if endorsed will usher in the first democratic elections in the vast country since independence from Belgium 45 years ago. About 25-million eligible voters can tick an orange box to vote for the Constitution or a grey box to say ”no” in an exercise that includes about 40 000 polling stations in the central African country.