<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> Shaun de Waal reviews Michael Bays’ flashy action movie, <i>Transformers</i>, which opens in theatres this weekend
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are prepared to make a joint personal trip to Darfur to seek an end to bloodshed in the region, the two leaders said on Friday. Britain would provide "substantial aid", Brown said, but cooperation was needed from the Sudanese government.
South African athletes have won only seven medals on the first two days of the athletics competition at the ninth All Africa Games in Algiers. Sixteen events have so far been completed and the results show that SA athletes managed three silver and four bronze medals.
The Open Championship organisers on Friday defended a referee accused of giving Tiger Woods preferential treatment, despite evidence that he had mistakenly offered the world number one an advantageous free drop. Woods was offered the drop by referee Alan Holmes after his ball came to rest beside television cabling in light rough during his first round on Thursday.
China’s auditors have found more than ,2-billion in problem loans at three top banks, highlighting the ongoing poor credit practices in the financial system, the government said on Friday. The questionable loans were found at two of the nation’s largest — Bank of China and the Bank of Communications.
The public has the right to know about complaints against medical practitioners, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said on Friday. HPCSA registrar Boyce Mkhize said in a statement that the public had a right to check the credentials and misconduct record of healthcare practitioners in South Africa.
Ethiopia on Friday freed 38 opposition members sentenced to jail this week for treason, inciting violence and trying to overthrow the government, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. Rights groups and donor governments had complained the trial was politically motivated.
The JSE all-share index was in positive territory at midday on Friday as the gold-mining index shone brightly on the local bourse after tracking Shanghai on Friday night — which was up 4% — according to a local trader. At noon the all-share index was up 0,62%.
Israel freed more than 250 Palestinian prisoners met by joyful relatives on Friday, in the biggest such release in two years intended to bolster president Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas. Seven buses carrying handcuffed men from Israel’s Ketziot Prison and an eighth carrying seven women drove slowly through the Beitunya checkpoint at the entrance to Ramallah.
Afghanistan’s Taliban movement said on Saturday it had killed the second German hostage after the group’s demands were ignored, a spokesperson for the militant group said. The couple were shot dead in Ghazni province which lies to the south-west of the capital, Kabul.