Lebanon’s outgoing Defence Minister Elias Murr was wounded on Tuesday morning in an explosion in a Christian suburb just north of the capital Beirut that also caused fatalities, the police said. Murr, the son-in-law of President Emile Lahoud and deputy prime minister, was taken to Serhal hospital, where an employee said his condition was ”good”.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni says much can be learned from the European Union as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) attempts to create a single monetary union for the region by 2016, adding that it is necessary to be strict about macroeconomic convergence criteria.
One of the most colourful and legendary Blue Bulls of all time, Fiks van der Merwe, has died in Pretoria at the age of 88, family members confirmed on Monday. He was also the second-oldest living Springbok. Van der Merwe played on the flank in the Springboks’ first post-World War II Test against the All Blacks in 1949.
The Netherlands claimed the final qualifying place at the 2007 Cricket World Cup on Monday as they trounced the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 145 runs in the International Cricket Council Trophy fifth-place play-off. Bermuda, Canada, hosts Ireland and Scotland have already qualified from this tournament.
One of Europe’s leading hopes to break a six-year drought in the British Open, Padraig Harrington, has withdrawn from this week’s renewal after the death of his father on Monday. The 33-year-old Irishman had been told in March that his father, Patrick, had contracted cancer of the oesophagus.
A man and a woman have been arrested in the Johannesburg area in connection with a murder case in which the victim was set in concrete, East Rand police said on Monday. Superintendent Andy Pieke said a Boksburg man found the corpse encased in concrete in a dustbin in his yard in Boksburg on Sunday.
United States First Lady Laura Bush arrived in Cape Town on Monday where she will spend time with her daughters while visiting HIV/Aids centres, the American embassy said. On the apron at the Cape Town International airport, awaiting her arrival in a US Air Force jet, was a cavalcade of more than 30 vehicles.
Arsenal have admitted for the first time that Juventus have made a move to sign captain Patrick Vieira. Highbury chairperson Peter Hill-Wood said the club might sell the 29-year-old, whose contract expires in 2007.
Seven of 15 South Africans believed to be missing in London following last week’s bomb blasts have been found, the Dutch Reformed Church said on Monday. The names of the 15 were read out during a church service in London on Sunday. The seven sent messages to friends and family to say they were safe.
At least 56 people were killed and 30 were seriously injured when a bus plunged over an embankment southwest of Asmara in what authorities believe was one of Eritrea’s worst road accidents, the state news agency Erina reported late on Monday. The bus, which police believe may have been overloaded, was travelling between the towns of Adi Quala and Maimene in southern Eritrea.