DaimlerChrysler came close to shutting down its Smart car business, the company admitted yesterday as it announced it was taking a â,¬1,2-billion charge on the heavily loss-making range and cutting up to 700 jobs.
Côte d’Ivoire officials say they pinning their hopes on a weekend peace summit lead by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is trying to mediate an end to the West African country’s lingering civil conflict. Côte d’Ivoire has been divided along tribal and religious lines since a failed coup attempt in September 2002.
A group of Spanish priests have placed their faith in the country’s trade unions as they decided to fight salary cuts imposed by a bishop who lost millions in church money on internet stocks. A union said it was approached by the priests after the bishop reportedly suggested they dip into the church’s alms boxes to make ends meet.
Moroka Swallows beat a 10-man Wits University 2-0 in their Castle Premier Soccer League match played at the Bidvest Stadium on Friday night. Both teams failed to break the deadlock in the first half.
Looking composed at times and dishevelled at others the second-seeded Baby Boks always had the unpredictable Argentinians under control in the final game of the first day of the IRB Under-19 World Rugby Cup as they held on to win 62-18.
South African Airways’ fuel levy for international flights is to increase from R155 to R186, the company said on Friday. The levy for flights to and from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe was now around R124 per flight.
Trade union federations expressed satisfaction on Friday with a government assurance that workers’ rights would not be tampered with. Unions were concerned that government plans to review the impact of the current regulatory environment on small and medium enterprises would impact on workers’ rights.
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Zimbabwean ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo on Saturday criticised British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw’s statement, saying it was ”irresponsible and irrelevant”. Straw said the parliamentary election in Zimbabwe was marked by irregularities and was not free and fair.
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President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party secured a two-thirds majority on Saturday, winning 71 seats which along with 30 seats appointed directly by the president carried it to a major victory. Mugabe (81) will now be able to rewrite his country’s Constitution unopposed.
John Paul II was slipping towards the close of his momentous 27-year papacy last night, his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys close to failing. Tens of thousands flocked into St Peter’s Square below the twin lights of his Vatican apartment to pray for the 84-year-old Pope as his conditioned worsened.