Police warned Pretoria businesses on Thursday to beware of criminals using stolen cheques to buy goods costing thousands of rands. The scam artists, who usually purport to be professional people in order to win the trust of their victims, place telephonic orders and request the companies’ bank particulars to ”deposit” money.
Ernie Els looks as though he belongs with the other stars at the Byron Nelson Championship. The Big Easy is part of the ”Big Four”. The top four players in the world ranking are past champions at Lord Byron’s tournament, and all have three wins this year. Els just hasn’t done it on the PGA Tour.
Gautrain CEO Jack van der Merwe is optimistic that the R8-billion Gautrain project will be completed in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. ”How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite,” Van der Merwe said at a meeting of the SA Association of Consulting Engineers.
A lower growth in house prices in the first quarter of 2005 is an indication of a residential property market that is cooling off, according to Absa. Nevertheless, it says real growth in house prices is expected to be positive for 2005 for the sixth consecutive year, with a nominal house price growth of between 15% and 20% forecast for the year.
Witches have returned to the German forests, dancing naked in groups under the full moon and calling to their gods. Their religious ideas are described as ”pagan” rather than Satanist, and many of the older practitioners have a history in the environmental movement, where they learnt a passionate love of nature.
A growing number of consumers worldwide are turning to health foods, with trend researchers predicting a boom in the organic food industry. In the United States the so-called ”Lohas” — Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability consumers — already make up about a third of the population, according to reports.
Yahoo’s steeply discounted foray into online music subscriptions struck a sour note on Wednesday with the shareholders of Napster and RealNetworks — the owners of the rival services that stand to lose the most from the new competitive
threat.
The police could not get the Mafia out of Las Vegas so it was left to Wall Street financiers to clean up the desert gambling resort and turn it into one of the great United States success stories. Las Vegas was once the only place where gambling was legal. The industry took off during the austerity of World War II.
A television journalist who was slapped by Kenyan First Lady Lucy Kibaki has filed a formal complaint with the police, charging her with assault and calling for her arrest. ”In terms of justice being served, I am keeping my fingers crossed,” said Clifford Derrick, adding that he has already received several calls warning him to be careful.
Serena Williams certainly didn’t look ready for the French Open on Wednesday. The six-time Grand Slam winner was upset 7-6 (2), 6-1 by Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in her opening match at the Italian Open, an important tune-up for the season’s first major, which starts in less than two weeks.