Vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath should not be deprived of the chance to debate with the Treatment Action Campaign even if he hits ”under the belt”, his advocate told the Cape High Court on Thursday. Even unfair debate should not be restrained, advocate John van der Berg told a full bench of judges.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has fired a senior prosecutor involved in dropping murder charges against a prominent British aristocrat accused of killing a Maasai game warden, officials said on Thursday. He ”had to go because he acted unprofessionally when handling the case”, a senior government official said.
The person responsible for microwaving a live cat at the University of KwaZulu-Natal could be slapped with a fine of up to R20 000 or a prison sentence of up to four years, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said on Thursday. R31 700 has been pledged for information leading to the arrest and conviction of this person.
Most of the major players in South African rugby were present when the crisis meeting of the South African Rugby Union (Saru) president’s council kicked off at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Thursday. Saru president Brian van Rooyen is expected to respond to allegations of mismanagement.
Twenty-six people were missing and feared dead on Thursday after a plane crashed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an aviation official said. The plane went missing shortly after takeoff on Wednesday and was found by United Nations helicopters on Wednesday night in the dense forests near Walungu.
A no vote in France’s referendum on the European Constitution on Sunday would be a catastrophe for the entire world, European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker warned on Wednesday. Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, said a French no could have a major impact on foreign investment in the union.
Women factory workers were shocked when a man in a full Darth Vader costume paraded menacingly in front of them and then flashed his genitals, Malaysian media reported on Thursday. The women were waiting for their bus after work when the man got out of his car and strutted in front of them in his Darth Vader costume.
The 2006 World Cup football finals in Germany will be surrounded by draconian security measures, but organisers are determined not to spoil the occasion for the fans, German Interior Minister Otto Schily said on Wednesday. ”We have a gigantic task to fulfil,” Schily told a meeting of Germany’s 16 regional interior ministers.
Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet set up a dream French Open third-round showdown as teenage talent threatened to sweep the old guard out of Roland Garros on Wednesday. Top seed Roger Federer, bidding to win the only grand slam to have eluded him, moved ominously into the third round.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was looking strong in late morning trade on Thursday, led by resources heavyweights Anglo American and BHP Billiton, which were both up in London. Volumes were relatively light and dealers said that the JSE was merely following European markets.