Thousands of United States gadget fans flocked to stores on Friday to be the first buyers of Apple’s iPhone, a music-playing and web-browsing device expected to shake up the mobile industry. Crowds lined up at some of Apple’s outlets cheered as their doors opened at 6pm local time.
Police defused a car bomb packed with petrol, gas and nails outside a busy nightclub in the heart of London on Friday, foiling an attack that echoed an earlier al-Qaeda plot and could have killed or wounded scores of people. Possible bomb components were found in a second car hours later, police said on Friday evening.
The African National Congress (ANC) has come up with a compromise that leaves the way open for either Thabo Mbeki or Jacob Zuma to stand for the party presidency at the end of the year. The succession battle has loomed large over the organisation’s policy conference in Midrand despite a call by Mbeki for members to remain focused on policy.
The St Lucia Wetlands Park is in danger of being destroyed by sea water is flowing into it, the Wetlands Park Authority warned on Friday. The estuary mouth was breached by high seas last month after being closed for five years. The large quantity of sea water flowing into the St Lucia lake was already having a negative effect on vegetation, birds and fish.
Cocaine with a street value of R23-million was seized in the cargo of South African Airways (SAA) flight SA206 from São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday, the airline said. The 51,6kg haul consisted of 33 foil-wrapped parcels hidden inside a dough-making machine in a crate on a cargo pallet.
South African actress, poet and television personality Lebo Mashile has won the 2006 Pan-African book prize, the Noma Award, for her first published collection of poems. Mashile’s poetry collection, In A Ribbon Of Rhythm, published in 2005, scooped the award late on Thursday in the Botswana capital, Gaborone.
There can be ”no turning back” on the restructuring of South African Airways (SAA), chief executive Khaya Ngqula said on Friday, releasing SAA’s financial results for the year ending March 31. SAA posted an R883-million loss, with operating costs of R21,3-billion outstripping income at R20,6-billion.
Wrapped in a blanket, sitting near the heater, a steamy mug of hot chocolate in one hand and the other resting on the armrest your favourite chair — what could be better to beat the bleak chills of winter? Other than experiencing the National Arts Festival from Grahamstown in the comfort of your own home at the same time, that is.
SA’s own dramatic tenor comes home for performances in Johannesburg and Cape Town, writes Dillon Davie
The African National Congress (ANC) succession battle has loomed large over the party’s policy conference in Midrand despite a call by President Thabo Mbeki for members to remain focused on policy. At a media briefing on Friday, ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe confirmed to reporters that the issue had been strongly on the agenda.