In a case of life truly imitating art, a celebrity impersonator sued by the mimic Robin Williams for being too convincing has agreed to stop posing as the Oscar-winning actor. Williams had accused his impersonator of duping a newspaper and a fire department into believing he was the actor.
Uzbekistan’s opposition unveiled a list of 745 people on Tuesday said to have been killed by state troops in the east of the country, and raised the prospect of unrest in the capital over the apparent massacre. A protest of up to 50 people formed outside the US embassy in Tashkent on Tuesday.
Hong Kong’s new Disney park on Wednesday began taking bookings for wedding parties with a Mickey Mouse theme at a price of nearly $1 500 (R9 600) per table of 12. Couples will be able to have their wedding receptions at the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel after the theme park, the first in China, opens in September.
Makalani Holdings, a black economic empowerment (BEE) finance company formed by Rand Merchant Bank to mobilise capital for BEE and development investments, listed in the investment companies sector of the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) on Wednesday. The first trade was at R101 per share, valuing the company at R2,525-billion.
The coming of winter has brought brisk business for coal merchants in the South African township of Soweto as many residents rush to buy the commodity to keep themselves warm in the biting cold. When winter sets in between May and August, Sowetans look for other means apart from electricity to keep their homes warm, as temperatures can drop to freezing point at night.
Look to southern Africa and the rest of the continent for expansion, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa urged South African business on Tuesday. Opening the Export Africa 2005 show, he advised small businesses and those with little international experience to enter into regional trade relationships.
South Africa’s 5-0 series win in the West Indies sees them climb back into the top four of the LG ICC ODI Championship for the first time since July 2004. The victory boosted South Africa’s rating by five points to 112. West Indies went into the series only two points behind South Africa but defeat has seen their rating fall to 98 points to seventh position.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) will consider restoring caffeine to its list of banned substances after Australian Rugby Union captain George Gregan said he used it to enhance performance. Wada added that reports that Gregan and other Australian athletes were using caffeine to boost performance were disturbing.
Lawyers for Zimbabwe’s former finance minister asked the high court on Tuesday to throw out the charges against Chris Kuruneri of funnelling foreign currency to build a mansion in neighbouring South Africa. Kuruneri was arrested in April last year at the height of the Zimbabwean government’s anti-graft crusade.
Allan Heyl, the last surviving member of the Stander gang — a gang that grabbed headlines and was the subject of a Hollywood movie for committing a string of robberies in and around Johannesburg in the 1980s — was released from Krugersdorp Prison on Wednesday. He is to spend the remaining 10 years of his sentence on parole.