SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Thursday 10.00am. FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel’s appears to be the biggest winner on Thursday after his widely lauded fourth Budget in office, presented to Parliament on Wednesday, has been met with widespread praise from economists, business, unions, and investors alike. His 1999 Budget, commentators said on Thursday, will boost his standing […]

SPAIN’S King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were off to a game reserve on Thursday at the end of their four-day official visit, a Spanish embassy spokesperson said. The official part of their trip was centered on economic issues, concluding in Johannesburg on Wednesday with a forum on trade and investment opportunities.

UP to 200000 Sudanese Christians who fled fighting in the south and set up a village near the capital Khartoum have been chased into a desert zone, the Vatican missionary news agency FIDES reported on Wednesday. Between 150000 and 200000 Christians set up the village in Hajj Youssef, northeast of the Sudanese capital, but local […]

GERMAN Ralf Schumacher was fastest in testing at Kyalami on Tuesday as the Williams team bounced back in the final part of the build-up to the new Formula One season. He clocked a best time of one minute 24.63 seconds to erase some of the Williams’ team’s embarrassment 24 hours earlier when they were outpaced […]

MARK HEYWOOD, head of the Aids Law Project, says the government has a legal obligation to proceed with four pilot projects which have been halted by the decision not to supply Aids drug AZT to infected pregnant women. The project is planning to take legal action against the Department of Health, saying the Constitution recognises […]

DESPITE the departure of ten top Free State rugby players and financial difficulties, Free State Cheetahs enter their upcoming season with optimism. Cheetahs’ executive director, Harold Verster, said it was a long time since he had been so excited about the Cheetahs’ chances, but said that they needed the support of the Free State to […]

UTILITY back Robert Markram, one of last year’s rising rugby stars, may have broken his jaw on Wednesday night and could miss the start of the Super 12. He was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw after being injured in the Western Stormers warm-up game against Boland XV in Paarl. Markram was one […]

THE South African Cycling Federation named the four-member national women’s team Thursday who will race in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, the team will compete in the Tour de Snowy from February 28 to March 4 then a World Cup meeting in Canberra on March 7. Then they go on to New Zealand for […]

THE health ministry on Wednesday confirmed reports that a non-governmental organisation, collaborating with the health department in combating Aids, mistakenly damaged condoms by stapling them to a leaflet together with information on their use. These condoms were later distributed in Soweto and at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. No evidence of similar practices was found […]

THE president of the Commission on Co-operation and Development at the European parliament, Michel Rocard, said on Tuesday that the EU’s efforts in finding solution to the Anjouan crisis are secondary to those of the Organisation of African Unity. Rocard, a former French prime minister is in the Comoros Islands to support the OAU mission […]