The Johannesburg High Court has ordered Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride and five of his metro police officers not to intimidate, harass or threaten three of their colleagues. However, the court stopped short of ordering that they be kept 100m from the men.
Norway’s Thor Hushovd claimed his first victory of the year when he clinched the fourth stage of the Tour de France, a 193km trek from Villers-Cotterets to Joigny on Wednesday. The Credit Agricole rider, who won the green jersey in 2005, launched the bunch sprint 350m from the finish line to edge Barloworld’s South African rider Robert Hunter for the win.
Local actor Bill Flynn has died, it was reported on Wednesday. It was understood that he had suffered a heart attack, according to the report. Flynn (58) was a respected and much-loved figure in the entertainment industry. A stage and screen actor, he was known for his roles in films such as Heel Against the Head and Running Riot.
Zimbabwe business leaders held out an olive branch to the government on Wednesday over its controversial price controls, pledging to make goods more affordable and accepting there would be no let-up of a crackdown that has seen hundreds of retailers arrested.
South Africa remains one of only two countries in the world to offer life policies for people with HIV/Aids, the Life Offices’ Association (LOA) said on Wednesday. Three of South Africa’s biggest life-insurance companies were the first to introduce life policies for people with HIV/Aids in 2001, with The Netherlands following suit only last year, a statement said.
Western Province rugby coaches Kobus van der Merwe and his assistant, Jerome Paarwater, resigned from their posts on Wednesday. This was confirmed by Western Province Rugby Union CEO Rob Wegner, who said it was mutually agreed by his union and the coaches that in the interest of Western Province rugby the coaches would step down.
An 11-strong crew of mostly German explorers set out from New York on Wednesday on a reed boat bound for southern Spain in a bid to prove that Stone Age man conducted similar trans-Atlantic voyages. ”We want to rewrite history,” Dominique Goerlitz, a botanist and experimental archeologist leading the expedition said.
A Chilean Supreme Court judge has ruled that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori should not be extradited to Peru to face human rights and corruption charges, a court spokesperson said on Wednesday. ”Judge Orlando Alvarez … rejected the extradition request presented by the Peruvian government against Alberto Fujimori.”
Three women arrested for allegedly drowning a baby in a bucket confessed to a magistrate in a case heard in chambers in Mamelodi, Pretoria, on Wednesday, police said. Inspector Paul Ramaloko said the women made ”an admission of guilt” to the magistrate.
A Romanian man who sued God for ”fraud” and ”betrayal of trust” for failing to answer his prayers has had his case dismissed in court, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Mircea Pavel (40), who is serving 20 years in prison for murder, brought charges against ”the defendant God, who lives in the heavens and is represented in Romania by the Orthodox Church”.