Eritrean Foreign Minister Ali Said died of a heart attack on Sunday, Eritrean Minister of Information Ali Abdu said. ”It’s a great loss for this country,” he said on Sunday in Asmara, the Eritrean capital. In 1965, Said, the son of a Muslim shepherd, received medical and military training in Syria before joining the Eritrean Liberation Front.
Tens of thousands of unmarried Swazi girls gathered at the royal residence on Sunday to lay down reeds as part of a week-long celebration of national pride that will culminate in King Mswati III selecting a new virgin bride. The bare-breasted girls in brightly coloured traditional fabric and clutching clumps of reeds, sang and stamped their feet as they edged along a snaking queue toward the thatched dwellings at Ludzidzini.
Curtis Brown carries business cards with old pictures of his tumours, including an egg-sized growth on his neck. He says they were each shed after the application of a flesh-eating paste containing the medicinal herb bloodroot. ”I cured myself of cancer,” the cards read.
Retail chain Mr Price announced on Monday that agreement has been reached for the sale of The Hub division, comprising 12 departmental stores and two shoe stores. The purchaser of The Hub is a consortium of management and a private investor supported by a leading financial institution.
![]()
At least one member of the tripartite alliance has rejected President Thabo Mbeki’s proposed inquiry into an alleged plot against Jacob Zuma, the Witness website reported on Monday. South African Communist Party spokesperson Kaiser Mohau said: ”We don’t need a commission of inquiry; the alliance can address such issues.”
The Cape High Court was set to be busy on Monday dealing with a wave of legal action ahead of the floor-crossing window that opens on Thursday. The court will hear argument on a bid by United Democratic Movement deputy president Malizole Diko and five other party officials to have their suspension from the party reversed.
Hurricane Katrina claimed its first victims in Louisiana early on Monday as it dumped torrential rain on the southern state and other parts of the United States Gulf of Mexico coast, threatening death and massive destruction. Although slightly weaker, the monster storm forced tens of thousands of New Orleans residents to flee the city.
Oil prices hit new record highs after crossing a barrel in Asian trading hours Monday as powerful Hurricane Katrina threatened the crude-producing Gulf of Mexico region in the United States. With the psychological barrier now breached, some analysts said prices could now aim for the once unthinkable a barrel.
Fifth seed Marat Safin of Russia has been forced to pull out of this week’s United States Open because of a knee injury. The 25-year-old, who won the Flushing Meadows tournament in 2000, has been bothered by tendonitis in his left knee for most of the summer.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was weaker just before midday on Monday as concerns about the effect of the record high oil price on global growth knocked world markets. Volumes were light due to the bank holiday in the United Kingdom. By 11.53am, the all-share and all-share industrial indices shed 0,51% and 0,44% respectively.