PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki congratulated Vladimir Putin on Monday on his election as Russian president, saying he believes Russia will continue to play a major role in international affairs. Mbeki said South Africa and Russia have both gone through momentous change during the past decade but that many great challenges still lay ahead for both countries […]

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki has held talks in Pretoria with Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame regarding peace efforts in the Great Lakes region, Mbeki’s spokesman said. The meeting lasted about an hour, spokesman, Parks Mankahlana, said on Sunday. He had no details of the meeting but said discussions would have included the situation in the Democratic Republic […]

ROBERT Mugabe bashers now have the rare oportunity to squirt diesel in his face or throw darts at him. All they have to do is tune in to a new youth website where Mugabe’s face will be bouncing around on the screen. The player who scores the most hits in 120 seconds will set him […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 11.00am. THE Black Economic Empowerment Commission, headed by Cyril Ramaphosa, has proposed that it should be given the status of a statutory body and report directly to the president, in a bid to improve the results of black empowerment. This follows the findings of a draft report by the commission […]

A FURIOUS Nigerian Football Association on Friday lodged a protest with football’s world governing body FIFA after English Premiership club Chelsea ordered their Nigerian international Celestine Babayaro to remain home, saying he is injured. Nigeria and Chelsea have been engaging for weeks in a tussle over the player who Nigeria’s Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere wants […]

CRACK Kenyan striker Mike Okoth, playing for Belgian club Genk, will miss a World Cup qualifier against Malawi in Blantyre on April 8 due to an ankle injury, the Kenya Football Federation said. Another setback for the Harambee Stars is that leading defender Musa Otieno will be released by South African club Santos only 48 […]

Castle Premiership standings (P W D L F A P) Sundowns 26 19 5 2 55 27 62 Orlando Pirates 26 15 7 4 51 24 52 Kaizer Chiefs 26 13 9 4 34 17 48 Wits Univ. 28 11 13 4 34 22 46 Hellenic 26 11 6 9 53 32 39 Jomo Cosmos […]

ROYAL Dutch/Shell said on Monday it has no immediate plans for resuming oil production in Nigeria’s troubled Ogoniland. The main group representing the ethnic Ogoni said over the weekend it has given approval to Shell to re-enter Ogoniland seven years after the oil company pulled out from the tiny Niger Delta enclave after sabotage attacks […]

AN American man involved in rescue work in Mozambique has fallen to his death at a waterfall in eastern Mpumalanga. Police spokeswoman Inspector Olga Marais said rescue workers found the body of the man on Saturday morning after he fell over the 70 metre Lisbon Falls at the tourist town of Graskop on Friday. The […]