The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was in positive territory just before noon on Thursday, boosted by stronger world markets. Its gains came despite a rampant rand. By 11.49am, the rand was quoted at R5,96 per dollar from R6 when the JSE closed on Wednesday.
A century from Jacques Kallis in Antigua was enough to return him to the top of the LG International Cricket Council Test rankings ahead of Brian Lara, at the end of the series between West Indies and South Africa in the Caribbean. Competition at the top of the batting rankings has never been fiercer.
If Maria Sharapova wants to claim the world’s top ranking at the German Open, she may have to earn it the hard way. Sharapova needs to win the title at the €1-million event, a major French Open tune-up, to unseat Lindsay Davenport. On Wednesday, the 18-year-old Russian breezed past 40th-ranked Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany.
AC Milan went into their Champions League semifinal match against PSV Eindhoven looking strong and confident. The Italian team came out of it lucky to be still alive in Europe’s top club competition. The six-time champions lost 3-1 on Wednesday but still advanced on away goals after winning at home 2-0.
Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro upset Australian Open champion Marat Safin 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday in the second round of the Rome Masters. Earlier, Andre Agassi managed a routine 6-2, 6-3 win over French teenager Richard Gasquet, taking just 64 minutes to defeat his 18-year-old opponent.
Pat Tillman was an all-American hero even before he died: a football star who traded in his jersey and a multimillion-dollar contract for a US army uniform and a distant war in the mountains of Afghanistan. When he was killed, in a firefight at twilight in an Afghan ravine, the White House called him an ”inspiration”.
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday she does not remember endorsing Aids dissident Matthias Rath’s Dr Rath Health Foundation — but said that the foundation’s focus on nutrition in fighting the disease complements the government’s programme to fight Aids.
As many as 300 000 Ethiopian children will die from malnutrition this year if donors do not come forward with food aid and funds, a United Nations official said. The UN children’s agency urgently needs -million in the next 60 days to feed about 170 000 of those who are now close to starving to death, said Bjorn Ljungqvist, the agency’s head in Ethiopia.
A gray whale swam into Tokyo Bay on Thursday, surprising nearby holidaymakers who got a rare view of the creature as it spouted water. The lone whale, about 10m long, was seen swimming close to Sodegaura, an industrial city on Tokyo Bay, said Kazutoshi Arai, deputy curator of the nearby Kamogawa Sea World aquarium.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s transitional government still has a long way to go before it will be ready to hold national elections, but a credible vote is possible and registration will begin next month, United Nations officials said. he DRC was supposed to hold elections on June 30 as part of a peace plan that ended a five-year war.