No image available
/ 24 November 2006
Global aluminium producer Alcan says construction on its R19,5-billion smelter at South Africa’s Coega development zone will start in 2008, and first production is expected before the end of 2010. The company says it will also now begin discussions with potential partners on the project.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
Suicide bombers ripped through a Shi’ite market in northern Iraq on Friday and mortars crashed on rival Baghdad neighbourhoods, ramping up sectarian tension a day after the bloodiest bombing of the conflict killed 202 people. As political leaders pleaded for restraint, two bombers killed 22 people at Tal Afar near the Syrian border.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
The crisis within the South African Post Office deepened this week when three members of the board resigned in protest against the suspension of the parastatal’s chief executive, Khutso Mampeule. The board members — Marthinus Crous, Jackie Lange and Phumeza Dzingwe — confirmed their resignations to the Mail & Guardian but refused to comment further.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
It’s difficult to get a direct answer from the new Auditor General, Terence Nombembe, even to a question as personal and direct as: ”Do you think you should be paid more?” He has a way of responding without really answering the question. To this he would only answer: ”I think I should be paid a package that is commensurate with the job that I do.”
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
<b>NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> For a heavily message-driven movie, the actual message of <i>Beat the Drum</i> is pitifully short of content, writes Shaun de Waal.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
Ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of his murder from beyond the grave on Friday, in a statement read out the morning after he died of an unknown poison in a London hospital. ”You may succeed in silencing one man. But a howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.”
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
Northern Ireland’s Stormont Parliament buildings were evacuated on Friday after a man threw a package at security staff at the entrance to the building where politicians were meeting to discuss self-rule. The man, identified in media reports as notorious former Loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone, was wrestled to the ground by security staff and the building evacuated.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
European aerospace group EADS has postponed until next week a board meeting scheduled for Friday on the future of the Airbus A350 XWB passenger jet programme. The meeting had also been due to discuss possible changes in shareholdings in EADS, said a spokesperson for Lagardere, a French media and technology group.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
A former manager from German engineering and electronics giant Siemens who was arrested this month has admitted paying massive bribes to the regime of late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. The manager is among six current and former Siemens employees detained in a huge embezzlement probe into one of Germany’s leading companies.
No image available
/ 24 November 2006
The trial of the two men implicated in the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) hoax e-mail saga was postponed in the Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on Friday so a third accused could be added. Software salesperson Muziwendoda Kunene and NIA manager for electronic surveillance Funokwakhe Madladla are accused of fraud relating to hoax e-mails.