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/ 8 December 2005
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe opens the annual congress of his ruling Zanu-PF party on Friday, buoyed by his recent big win in controversial senate elections and infighting that has left the opposition in tatters. About 5 000 delegates of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) will converge on the small town of Esigodini in the southern Matabeland province.
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/ 8 December 2005
Scalding chickens alive is the wrong way to prepare meat for a McNugget, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said on Wednesday. Peta and socially responsible investment firm Trillium Asset Management issued a shareholder’s resolution calling on the fast food giant McDonald’s to require its suppliers to switch to a humane system of slaughtering chickens.
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/ 8 December 2005
Vanuatu’s erupting Mount Manaro volcano burst into spectacular life on Thursday — shooting steam and toxic gases 3 000km into the skies above remote Ambae Island. Huge columns of dense white steam and muddy ash spewed above the South Pacific island to reach the greatest height seen since it began erupting on November 27.
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/ 8 December 2005
At least 25 000 people have fled fighting between the army and Mai Mai militiamen in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo region of Katanga since mid-November, humanitarian sources said late on Wednesday. Those displaced are fleeing an army offensive against loyalists to the Mai Mai militia chief ”Gedeon”, in order to re-establish order ahead of a planned constitutional referendum on December 18.
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/ 8 December 2005
South Africa’s November 2005 producer price index (PPI) is expected to ease to a 4,1% year-on-year (y/y) increase from 4,2% y/y in October and 4,6% y/y in September. According to an I-Net Bridge survey of economists, the range is from 3,7% y/y to 4,3% y/y. The expected easing is due to a reduction in the price of imported crude oil.
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/ 8 December 2005
Old Mutual will not raise its offer price for Swedish insurer Skandia, the company said on Thursday. Miranda Bellord, head of media relations at Old Mutual in London, was responding to earlier media reports that the company was considering lifting its R38-billion offer for Skandia in order to persuade some reluctant Skandia shareholders to accept its bid.
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/ 8 December 2005
The South African Cabinet this week considered a detailed presentation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail link project and gave a green light to it going ahead, government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe reported on Thursday. The project, which is expected to cost at least R20-billion rand, got the thumbs down recently from the National Assembly transport portfolio committee.
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/ 8 December 2005
There was something oddly Beckettian about Harold Pinter’s Nobel lecture which now is blazing its way across the world’s media. It was Beckettian in that Pinter sat in a wheelchair, with a rug over his knees and framed by an image of his younger self, delivering his sombre message: memories of Hamm in Beckett’s Endgame came to mind.
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/ 8 December 2005
South Africa’s director-general of Foreign Affairs has convened a meeting with Equatorial Guinea ambassador Juan Ncuchuma to try to secure the return of two nationals being held in that country. Aircraft crew members Sechan Pillay and Ruwayda Kalbine have been held in Equatorial Guinea for five weeks due to problems between two companies involved in a string of aviation sub-contracts.
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/ 8 December 2005
Santos registered their 12th draw of the season when they held SuperSport United to a 2-2 result after leading 1-0 at the interval in a Premier Soccer League match played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. In the 2nd minute Mngomezulu Sipho’s hard drive was brilliantly saved by Santos goalkeeper Brenden Wardle.