OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sydney | Friday HUMANS are far too primitive for alien life forms to bother contacting, believes an Australian scientist. University of New South Wales astronomer Charles Lineweaver has calculated that Earth-like planets orbiting other stars would be about 1,8 billion years older than Earth on average. As a result, humans would rate little […]

BRIAN LIGOMEKA, Blantyre | Friday MALAWI has defied international wildlife treaties by ordering officials and commercial hunters to begin exterminating Nile crocodiles from its densely populated southern provinces. Environmental Affairs Minister Harry Thomson said a surge in crocodile numbers in the Chikwawa and Nsanje districts and along the Shire River had resulted in a spate […]

POLICE have confiscated one million Mandrax tablets, with an estimated street value of R40m, at a Durban warehouse and arrested five suspects, aged between 14 and 37. The tablets were found concealed in soft animal dolls imported from China.

THE Nigerian army chief has defended recent life jail sentences imposed on 25 wounded soldiers accused of mutiny for complaining about their conditions. The soldiers, who were injured while serving in ECOMOG, a west African peacekeeping force, were sentenced to life imprisonment at the end of last month for protesting against conditions surrounding their medical […]

MUNGO SOGGOT, Johannesburg | Friday THE brother of a senior official guiding South Africas controversial R43bn arms package has been a director of a local offshoot of one of the winning foreign companies from as early as 1996 – winning contracts worth at least R400m in the process. Shabir Shaik, the brother of Shamin Chippy […]

SOUTH African smart card company Aplitec has given financial services group Nedcor an option to raise its stake to 50% from 25.1%. It will also waive the mandatory offer which may be required to be made if there is a change of control as a result of Nedcor exercising the option.

According to the Rationalisation of Local Government Affairs Act road closing and access restricting measures can be granted by a municipality under the following conditions: l The applicant must justify a need for such closure by providing crime statistics in the area concerned. l The applicant must outline security measures that have been used (bobbies […]

The likes of Springer have built empires by exposing the exhibitionist in all of us and <em>Survivor</em> was no different.

Riaan Wolmarans CDs OFTHEWEEK Christmas always brings a glut of greatest-hits compilations as record companies cash in on the time of giving. Most actually boil down to three hit singles off the artist’s measly two albums plus a few others that received radio play, rather than a showcase of an accomplished career. Two welcome exceptions […]