Chinese President Hu Jintao and Taiwan’s opposition leader met on Friday, holding the highest-level talks since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949, with both calling for an end to decades of hostility. Beijing and Taipei should focus on ”peace, stability and development for the future”, Hu told Lien in a meeting shown live on television.
The Canterbury Crusaders scored seven tries in the first 42 minutes on Friday and held on for a 77-34 win over the Sharks in a Super 12 rugby match at Jade Stadium in New Zealand. The Crusaders gave up four tries in 15 minutes in the second half to see their 49-8 lead threatened, before scoring four more tries to restore its emphatic victory margin.
The Gauteng provincial government and Gautrain project team has failed to meet its April deadline on the announcement relating to the successful bidder for the rapid rail link. Instead, Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa will name the winner in late May — two years later than initially planned.
Dozens of the late United States movie star Marlon Brando’s personal effects will be auctioned on June 30 in New York, Christie’s said on Thursday. The property includes 250 articles from the Los Angeles home where he lived from 1960 until his death in July 2004, and is expected to bring more than -million, it said.
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Europe’s leaders celebrated the European Union’s ”big bang” expansion from 15 to 25 states, the continent’s historic reunification half a century after it was ripped apart by war. A year later they are staring into a black hole, and at its centre is a French vote threatening to rip apart their grand plans.
Shares in mobile service provider MTN Group collected 4,19% in Friday’s early session on the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE), where it was among the most active shares by value and number of shares traded. Traders attributed the surge to a renewed interest by foreigners.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was firm across the board in noon trade on Friday — this despite a firmer rand and the fact that United States stocks ended lower on Thursday. At noon, the all-share and all-share industrial indexes were up 0,78% and 0,38% respectively.
At the halfway stage in the Champions League semifinals, we’re no closer to knowing who will meet in the final in Istanbul late in May. The first-leg games between AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven and Liverpool and Chelsea were entertaining affairs, and highlighted how important tactics are in European competition.
The share price of global pulp and paper producer Sappi fell by 4,3% or R2,89 in early trade on Friday after the company said in its second-quarter results that it does not expect its 2005 full-year earnings to match those of 2004. At 9.50am, Sappi’s shares were quoted on the JSE Securities Exchange at R64,50.
The Americans are at it again, this time seeking to rule the world with their weapons of mass distraction. Or so the French would have us believe, writes Mike van Graan.