Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the opposition Labour party on Monday took the first step towards forming a coalition government to see through the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza in the face of a growing revolt within the prime minister’s Likud party. The two party leaders agreed to begin negotiations next week.
The United States administration is negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic over its controversial missile defence programme, with a view to positioning the biggest missile defence site outside the US in central Europe. The project is supposed to shield the US and its allies from long-range ballistic missile attacks.
South African oil and chemicals group Sasol recently opened its 100th service station and is on course to achieve its target of opening 150 service stations by the end of the year. The roll-out of Sasol’s service stations follows the merger between Sasol Oil and Exel Petroleum.
The South African rand, along with the Turkish lira, is among the most vulnerable currencies to a possible reversal in risk appetite among investors, according to international investment bank Lehman Brothers. Investor sentiment could be tested after the upcoming release of United States inflation data, a recent research note said.
General Motors have given us a sneak-peek at the new Opel Corsa Ute, and we think it’s a stunner.
Triumph chewed up and spat out the rule book when they built a motorcycle with a gargantuan 2,3 litre three cylinder engine. Although officially classed as a Cruiser, the bike recently launched in Johannesburg is quite simply the fastest accelerating machine in the world. And it’s starter motor puts out as much power as Triumph’s first motorcycle did 102 years ago.
Reality is sucking a little too much these days, so I figured for a change, a column filled with stupid stuff <i>and</i> serious stuff might relieve the boredom. Let’s dive straight into the deeply serious stuff with a little game known as Rock, Paper — Saddam!
Scientific knowledge lives a contradictory life: it is both a source of human enlightenment and, ironically, the bane of human civilisation. Its propensity for evil and good — and given its far-reaching influence over human society — makes it necessary for there to be collective oversight of the scientific community, writes Saliem Fakir of the World Conservation Union.
The United States dollar is a flawed currency and will collapse in value before the end of the decade, taking with it the prosperity of the American nation. Investors should be buying commodities — platinum, lead, wheat, sugar, oil — assets that haven’t been fashionable for a quarter of a century or more. So says Jim Rogers, Wall Street legend.
The South African government recently hosted a United Nations conference on the Inalienable Rights of Palestinians. It was unfortunate that the government of Israel chose not to send a delegation. The tone for the conference was set by President Thabo Mbeki’s opening address. This was not going to be a furious affair with wild denunciations of the state of Israel, and especially not of its right to exist.