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United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is pleased weekend elections in Zimbabwe were relatively peaceful, but is concerned over the fairness of the vote, his spokesperson said on Monday. Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai has slammed the elections as a ”massive fraud”.
The separation of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) from its parent company, Transnet, should be completed by the end of the year, says Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin. The minister briefed members of the National Assembly public enterprises committee at Parliament on Tuesday on his upcoming budget vote.
Scientists have developed a potentially revolutionary technique to permanently rewrite any gene in the human body. The breakthrough brings hope to millions of people with genetic diseases but campaigners have warned that the technology could be abused by parents who want to alter the physical characteristics of their children after they are born.
Aids activists in Africa describe the late Pope John Paul II’s fierce opposition to the use of condoms as a major obstacle in the battle against Aids in Africa, where the disease killed 2,3-million people in 2004. They said that his position was a big obstacle in slowing the spread of Aids, and hoped that the next pope would be more progressive on the issue.
Wallaby hooker Brendan Cannon became the first player to join Perth’s Super 14 team on Tuesday, signing a two-year contract with the new franchise. The announcement of Cannon’s defection from the Super 12-leading New South Wales (NSW) Waratahs prompted an angry tirade from NSW coach Ewan McKenzie.
Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer was fined six weeks’ wages — about £210 000 (R2,4-million) — on Monday for fighting with teammate Kieron Dyer on the pitch during a Premier League game. The two players received red cards for fighting during Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Aston Villa at St James’ Park.
South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel should cut the fuel levy, which is not a specific targeted tax used for road maintenance, but is a general revenue raising levy, by 50 cents per litre (c/l) on 6 April. In the February 2005 Budget, Manuel raised the fuel levy by 5c/l to 116c/l for petrol and 100c/l for diesel.
Jesper Parnevik’s attempt to win the Masters golf tournament got off to an embarrassing start in Georgia when the Swede arrived for a practice round on Sunday — he had forgotten to bring his clubs. The eccentric Swede, who once claimed he ate volcanic dust, admitted he had no one to blame but himself.
Three South Africans — world champion Jacques Freitag, hurdler Surita Febbraio and 800m runner Werner Botha — all recorded fine wins at the African Permit International athletics meeting held in Dakar, Senegal, on Sunday. An enthusiastic crowd of 50 000 spectators attended the meeting at the Leopold Senghor Stadium.
Phil Mickelson made a 20-foot birdie putt on the fourth play-off hole on Monday to win the BellSouth Classic over Rich Beem and give the defending US Masters champion momentum heading to Augusta. Mickelson, Jose Maria Olazabal, Beem, Jobe Brandt and Arjun Atwal tied at eight-under 208 after the final round to set up the play-off.