No image available
/ 6 September 2005
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa has called for the scrapping of state-administered price controls, launched in 2003 to rein in galloping inflation, a state-run daily said on Tuesday. ”We should move away from price controls. They do not help. It is some of these policies that are creating additional distortions,” said Murerwa.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
With the battle to keep his throne all but won, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s main struggle on the eve of Wednesday’s landmark election was to secure a strong enough turnout to legitimise his victory. Mubarak wrapped up his campaign for the country’s first contested presidential election with an appeal to Egypt’s 32-million voters to go the polls but observers predict many could stay at home.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
The original cloak worn by Alec Guinness in the blockbuster film Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back has turned up in a British fancy-dress shop, where it had been hired out as part of a monk’s outfit, the owner said on Tuesday. Estimates have put the cloak’s value at £25 000 (about R289 500).
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
At least 32 people perished in a fire in an Egyptian theatre apparently set off by lighted candles used on stage, with the blaze provoking a deadly stampede as burning spectators tried to flee. The fire is the worst Egypt has witnessed in years and sent shockwaves through the country’s artistic community.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger guerrillas on Tuesday said three of their men were killed and five wounded when government troops launched an attack on a rebel sentry point in the island’s restive east. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said heavily armed troops attacked their Kattumurivu sentry point in the district of Batticaloa on Tuesday morning.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
South Africa’s 22nd national park is to be established in the area surrounding Graaff-Reinet, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced on Tuesday. Van Schalkwyk said a public consultation process will be held to determine a name for the new park.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
Zimbabwe’s vice-president has promised that people who lost homes in the government’s controversial urban clean-up campaign will be given priority in a housing programme launched in its wake, a newspaper said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a controversial new Bill in Zimbabwe continues to reel in strong criticism.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
South Africa’s major banks and the government are on a collision course over low-cost housing finance, with the banking sector appearing to backtrack on its R42-billion commitment in terms of the financial services charter. The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> has learnt that the banks are demanding higher levels of state protection for the next 10 years against losses caused by defaulting bond holders.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
Parliamentary veteran and former chairperson of the watchdog standing committee on public accounts Gavin Woods has crossed the floor from the Inkatha Freedom Party to the National Democratic Convention (Nadeco) led by Ziba Jiyane.
No image available
/ 6 September 2005
The trade union Solidarity on Tuesday welcomed Telkom’s decision not to bring a R5-million claim against Gregg Stirton’s website <i>Hellkom.co.za</i>. The website claims that Telkom’s bandwidth charges are crippling the South African economy. "I am slightly relieved," Stirton said on Tuesday.