Basket-selling by futures players on Tuesday acted in tandem with lower precious metal prices to send the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) deep into the red by noon. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the all-share index by about two to one. By 11.56am, the all-share index weakened 1,1%.
A traditional cleansing ceremony to honour the memory of 50 South African freedom fighters, killed by forces of the apartheid regime in collaboration with Swazi security forces, concluded at the weekend in Swaziland’s central commercial town, Manzini.
The South Africa/China binational commission was an example of the deepening relations between the two countries, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday. Zuma and his counterpart, Zeng Qinghong, will sign various bilateral agreements including agreements on education, on citrus exports from South Africa to China and between Sasol and a consortium of Chinese companies.
Soon it will be possible to write an internet address in Korean, German, Arabic and many other languages that do not use the Western alphabet. At the moment, one can write a web page using any script one chooses, but the address of that page requires at least some knowledge of the alphabet used in the West.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Tuesday brushed off the threat posed by Linux software in Asia and pushed for the use of the Windows operating system in Malaysia. Unlike expensive Windows operating systems, Linux is available for free over the internet while piracy of Windows software in Asia is rampant.
<li><a href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=117756" class="standardtextsmall">Shuttleworth returns to the source</a>
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor could be brought to trial in the near future if the government of Liberia issues a request, said United Nations officials visiting the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, on Friday. Taylor left Liberia on August 11 for exile in Nigeria.
Vodacom Mozambique, a subsidiary of South African mobile services provider Vodacom, last week reached the 100 000 customer milestone after commencing commercial operations in one of Africa’s most promising economies in December last year.
The United States resumed direct diplomatic ties with Libya on Monday after a 24-year break, even as the Bush administration pursued reports that Moammar Gadaffi had taken part in a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s crown prince. President George Bush said recenlty that US investigators were looking into reports of such a plot.
A Cape Town man who shot dead his nine-year-old daughter and wounded his wife before shooting himself, died at the Groote Schuur hospital on Monday night. Hospital spokesperson Leigh Pollio said on Tuesday that Peter Prinsloo (59) died at 7.40pm.
The largest diamond cutting and polishing factory in Africa, owned by Russian-Israeli tycoon Lev Leviev, opened in Windhoek on Monday, officials said. The Leviev group, one of the world’s largest cutters and polishers of the precious gems, took over offshore diamond mining concessions from the liquidated Namibian minerals corporation, which collapsed in 2001.