The host province, the Mpumalanga Pumas and Free State were the winners among the ”A” league provinces on the first day of the Coca-Cola Craven Week in Nelspruit on Monday. The Pumas met Eastern Province in the final game of the day and the two sides turned it on to produce a spectacle of running rugby.
All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw seems a doubtful starter ahead of Saturday’s Tri-Nations test against Australia after complaining that his headaches have returned. Flyer Doug Howlett has, however, recovered from injury and looks set to resume his scoring partnership with fellow winger Joe Rokocoko.
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The trial of four Zimbabwean newspaper directors charged with illegally publishing the country’s only independent newspaper, the Daily News, resumed on Monday in Harare. The defence has asked that the charges against the four, who face fines or up to two years in jail, be dropped.
A large number of awaiting-trial prisoners escaped from the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday, hours after a Democratic Party MP pledged to challenge Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula to explain the reason for the large number of suspects escaping from police custody.
Beleaguered Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky has offered to relinquish his stake in oil giant Yukos to pay off its tax debts. Khodorkovsky made the offer on the first day of his trial for fraud and tax evasion. Khodorkovsky faces up to ten years in prison should he be convicted.
South Africa’s top Catholic bishop said on Monday he cannot understand why the South African government is not considering sanctions against neighbouring Zimbabwe, given the success that sanctions brought for South Africa. ”What further suffering will sanctions bring to the people of Zimbabwe?” the bishop asked, pointing out that he is not calling directly for sanctions against Zimbabwe.
A Chinese man has handed himself over to Port Elizabeth police following one of the biggest illegal perlemoen busts in the Eastern Cape. Police on Friday raided a smallholding and recovered more than a ton of perlemoen as well as equipment used to process the shellfish for illegal export. Three people were arrested.
Democratic Alliance MP Roy Jankielsohn has vowed to challenge Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula to explain, in Parliament, the high number of suspects escaping from police custody. Jankielsohn says that Nqakula and his department are accountable for the high number of escapees.
Iraq’s interim President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar said in an interview published on Monday that the government will within ”a couple of days” offer an amnesty to insurgents who have fought United States-led forces but are ready to lay down their arms. Amnesty will not apply to ”murderers, rapists, and kidnappers”, Yawar said.