Threatened native fish species in Australia’s largest river were on Monday given ”ladders” to by-pass obstacles put in their way by man, the government announced on Monday. The so-called ”fish ladders” are passages that will allow the fish to swim past weirs in the Murray river, Australia’s largest, in the hope of reversing a catastrophic decline in their numbers.
She needs to be coddled with sweet talk and pampered with gifts, but you’ll never see her in the flesh, says a Hong Kong company that’s developing a ”virtual girlfriend” for new cellphones with video capability. The gifts will keep the relationship going from one level to the next — and even though it’s all made up of cold, hard data, suitors will have to pay cold, hard cash for the gifts.
An urgent bid to free right-wing leader Eugene Terre’Blanche after an alleged parole violation over the weekend was proceeding in the Pretoria High Court, his lawyer said on Monday. Lawyer Gerrie Basson described Terre’Blanche’s arrest as "blatant harassment" by the Department of Correctional Services.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=120860">Terre’Blanche spends night in jail</a>
An academic in Australia said on Monday she plans to teach quantum physics to children as young as five through a new series of books. Through characters such as Ellie the Electron, Yvette Hancock from Monash University in Melbourne said young children might be able to grasp the bizarre concepts involved. In fact, she said, they might be better at it than adults.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance says the near-record current account deficit recorded in the second quarter of 2004 of R49-billion — 3,7% of gross domestic product — "is cause for concern". Shadow finance minister Raenette Taljaard said there are at least four reasons for this jump in the figures.
The South African rand was slightly stronger against major currencies in early trade on Monday, continuing a move that began on Friday afternoon when the local unit failed to sustain a move weaker that started on the back of poor preliminary current account figures.
South African information technology group Datatec on Monday announced that it has acquired United States group Solution Technology for a maximum consideration of $15,7-million. The group is funding the acquisition using group cash resources and may issue Datatec ordinary shares to the Solution Technology vendors.
Two South African men being held in Pakistan have apparently told investigators that they received ”basic al-Qaeda training,” ThisDay newspaper reports on Monday. The newspaper said that Fordsburg doctor Feroz Ganchi and Laudium student Zubair Ismail had both admitted that they were recruited in South Africa and had travelled to Pakistan for training.
The media love a soft target. And Marthinus van Schalkwyk has been the perfect repository for all manner of ridicule and vitriol in the past two weeks. Much of the commentary has been as asinine as it has been predictable. Yes, he’s effectively ended the life of the party he leads — hardly the orthodox objective of political leadership. But look at the big picture.
Police arrested hundreds of people during crime prevention operations on the East Rand over the weekend, a spokesperson said on Sunday. Sergeant Prudence Mvelase said 454 people were arrested for a variety of crimes, ranging from armed robbery to shoplifting to liquor-related offences.