The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) retreated into the red at the start on Thursday in fairly quiet trade. The opening saw a reverse of the trend over the past two days, with gold stocks gaining ground boosted by a higher bullion price, but heavyweight rand hedge stocks slipping on the back of a firmer currency.
Ernie Els has a new equipment deal with Titleist, new clothing and new sponsorship. But what makes the South African excited about the season is an old outlook on his golf and his potential.
British premier Tony Blair said on Wednesday he was unable to stop England playing in Zimbabwe in the cricket World Cup next month, but urged England’s cricketers to boycott the match to be played in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare.
Piet Rooi adjusts his Union Jack cap, pushes his glasses up his nose and smiles at the inanity of my question about why he used the hoodia plant. ”Hoekom [Why]?” he asks. ”Because it helps us survive.” He holds up a hand to forestall further interrogation.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has won a clever game of political chess with the African National Congress (ANC) over which party has the right the govern the province of KwaZulu-Natal. It has also wrung a key concession from the national ruling party.<br>
<li><a class="standardtextsmall" href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=9882">IFP opens door to 11th hour compromise</a><br>
<li><a class="standardtextsmall" href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=9904">ANC backtracks on floor-crossing bill</a><br>
<li><a class="standardtextsmall" href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=9881">IFP to set KZN on path to elections</a>
Tony Blair yesterday warned President George Bush to ”listen back” to the international community’s fears over Iraq and other global concerns or risk ”pent-up feelings of injustice and alienation” pushing mainstream world opinion into the anti-US corner.
Nigeria’s main opposition party chose a former military dictator as its presidential candidate on Wednesday, setting up a Muslim versus Christian ”clash of the generals” with President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Ariel Sharon has called on religious leaders to make it easier to become a Jew to revive the immigration that provides a buffer to the burgeoning Arab population. The prime minister’s remarks follow a call by one of his own Cabinet for a ban on immigration by secular Jews.
The governments of Liberia and Burkina Faso helped an al-Qaeda plot to funnel diamonds and weapons through West Africa before and after the September 11 attacks, it was reported this week. An investigation has uncovered an elaborate web of bribery and clandestine deals.