The Gauteng Rapid Rail team on Thursday unveiled a complex plan of street closures, demolitions and expropriations — set to begin mid-May — for the construction of the new Gautrain link between Johannesburg and Pretoria. Digging will start "within weeks" for the first preparations, said project leader Jack van der Merwe.
Afghanistan’s Taliban militia has released a DVD purporting to show suicide bombers shortly before they carry out attacks and calling for more strikes on United States and British coalition troops. The film is called Convoy of Martyrdom Seekers and is sold at markets in restive north-west Pakistan and on the other side of the border in eastern Afghanistan.
The price of petrol is set to go up by about 20 cents per litre (c/l) next month, taking the price to new record levels, according to Econometrix senior economist Tony Twine. This would mean that the total increase in the price of petrol for May and June is likely to be in the order of around 59 cents a litre.
The Nasdaq Stock Market said on Wednesday it had increased its stake in the London Stock Exchange to 22,7%. The United States operator said in a statement released here that it had paid £128,4-million (,2-million) for an additional 10,3-million shares in the LSE, Europe’s biggest stock exchange.
Faced with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography websites, the internet’s key oversight agency voted to reject a proposal to create a red-light district on the internet. The decision on Wednesday from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers reverses its preliminary approval last June to create a ”.xxx” domain name for voluntary use by the adult entertainment industry.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo and compatriot Dave Mohammed wrecked Zimbabwe’s batting to leave West Indies with a modest victory target of 153 in the fifth One-day International on Wednesday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground. Bravo captured three wickets for 24 runs from 9,2 overs and Mohammed collected three for 37 from 10 overs on his ODI debut.
Resources again dominated activity on the JSE on Thursday morning, with buoyant commodity prices taking the all-share index to another record high in early trade. Weakness in the rand also assisted the bourse. At 11.55am, the all-share index was up 1% at 22 243,61 after earlier trading at an all-time high of 22 325,57.
A year ago, Rafa Benitez was preparing his Liverpool team for the Champions League final. Alan Pardew’s West Ham were playing in the promotion play-offs. Now they come face-to-face in the FA Cup final. However, Benitez refuses to accept his team are favourites, even though the Reds finished the season with 11 wins in a row.
Thousands of jubilant Sevilla supporters celebrated into the early hours of Thursday morning after their team won their first European trophy by trouncing Middlesbrough 4-0 in the Uefa Cup final. Fans fired rockets and danced in a noisy celebration held at downtown monumental tower, La Giralda, news agency Efe reported.
A mausoleum to Malawi’s founding president and one of Africa’s most repressive leaders, Kamuzu Banda, will be inaugurated on Sunday, stirring mixed emotions over the dictator’s legacy in the impoverished Southern African nation. Banda, popularly known as ”Ngwazi” or conqueror, died in South Africa in 1997 at the age of 99 and was one of Africa’s most controversial leaders.