Intelligence and anti-terrorism services in Britain and other European countries have been given the names of several Islamist radicals suspected of taking part in the Madrid train bombings who have fled Spain, according to western intelligence officials.
The head of Russia’s cash-starved navy caused uproar on Tuesday when he announced that the fleet’s flagship nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great had been temporarily withdrawn from service because of fears that it ”could explode at any moment”.
One of the Boeremag’s alleged leaders, Dr Lets Pretorius, smiled broadly and his wife burst into tears and hugged him after a Pretoria High Court judge granted him R500 000 bail on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the prosecution is to launch an urgent application next week for the withdrawal of two of the defence advocates.
The European Union declared Microsoft guilty on Wednesday of abusing its "near monopoly" with Windows to squeeze competitors in other markets and levied a record fine of 497,2-million euros ($613-million). The EU’s antitrust authority is also demanding changes in the way the United States software company operates.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=33115">Microsoft rivals hail decision</a>
South Africa’s CPIX inflation (headline inflation excluding mortgage costs) was up 4,8% year-on-year for metro and other areas in February compared with 4,2% in January and 4% in December, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. "It is what we expected," an economist said.
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South African official opposition leader Tony Leon has questioned the shroud of silence which hangs in ruling African National Congress circles over the prospect that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel could be deputy president one day.
Special Report: Elections 2004
Wesbank CEO Ronnie Watson on Tuesday announced a joint venture between the South African National Taxi Council and WesBank, to be called the South African National Taxi Finance Company. The primary aim of the joint venture is to facilitate the financing of new taxis under the government’s taxi recapitalisation plan.
Global index company FTSE is to continue to treat South Africa as an advanced emerging market, the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) said in a statement on Wednesday. At the invitation of FTSE, the JSE made representations in December 2003 to the FTSE policy committee.
It is an article of faith in development circles that assisting girls to complete their education — and postponing the age at which they have children — benefits both the girls and the communities they live in. This truth is proving difficult to entrench in Burkina Faso, however, where early marriages are often the norm.