South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) rose by 11,3% year-on-year in May from an 11,1% increase in April, Statistics South Africa data on Thursday showed. Commented Jean Mercier, Citigroup’s chief economist: "It’s a little bit worse than expected. The imports were a little stronger than expected."
President Thabo Mbeki has conveyed his ”warmest congratulations” to the United Kingdom’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. South Africa was convinced Brown would build on the United Kingdom’s constructive engagement in Africa, said foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
A car bomb killed 25 people and wounded 40 on Thursday at an intersection in Baghdad where minibuses pick up and drop off passengers, Iraqi police said. In the southern city of Basra, a roadside bomb killed three British soldiers and seriously wounded another in the early hours of Thursday, the British military said.
”Very cold” conditions were expected to persist over some parts of the country, the South African Weather Service warned on Thursday. The Eastern Cape, eastern Free State, Lesotho, western KwaZulu-Natal and Highveld areas of Gauteng and Mpumalanga would be affected, according to the service’s website.
Humanity will make the historic transition from a rural to an urban species some time in the next year, according to the latest United Nations population figures. The shift will be led by Africa and Asia, which are expected to add 1,6-billion people to their cities over the next 25 years.
Irate South Africa coach Jake White has challenged Australia for maligning his weakened Springbok squad. Since White named a 28-man squad without 24 top players for the Springboks’ Tests in Australia and New Zealand next month, the decision has drawn condemnation from South Africa’s Tri-Nations partners.
Bangladesh slumped to an innings and 234-run defeat in the first test on Thursday with Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claiming a match haul of 9-102. Bangladesh’s top order had resisted bravely on the third day but collapsed spectacularly at the start of the fourth, losing their five remaining wickets in just 4.4 overs.
The All Blacks may have won their past five matches against the Wallabies but they have a healthy respect for the improving side ahead of their Bledisloe Cup/Tri-Nations clash on Saturday. The All Blacks won on their past two visits to Australia, winning 13-9 in Brisbane last year and 30-13 in Sydney in 2005.
With a contingent of supporters from the adjoining Chinatown shopping complex designed to make them feel at home, holders China delivered the goods and generally held the upper hand in a frost-bitten goalless draw against South Africa when the eight nation under-23 soccer tournament got under way at the Johannesburg Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Tony Blair is to make his first working visit to Ramallah in the West Bank next month as envoy of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers, it emerged on Wednesday, after his job was confirmed amid scepticism about any chance of his success.