High oil prices and the United States deficit of $800-billion were key reasons for the large sell-off that occurred on the stock markets last week, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Monday. He referred to the "yawning, gaping" $800-billion deficit and the rapid rise in the oil price which had been $11 a barrel "a few years ago" and was now standing "on the other side" of $70 a barrel.
Year-on-year growth in total South African vehicle sales was 14,5% in May, up 6 671 units to 52 534 units. This improvement on April’s relatively soft sales figures was driven by an uptick in passenger vehicle sales growth, which picked up to 16,6% in May from April’s 13,9%.
With its hazy skies, traffic-clogged streets and fume-belching vehicles, the Indonesian capital Jakarta is poking fun at its constant state of pollution in a bid to clear the air. To mark World Environment Day, authorities on Monday unveiled six giant billboards around Jakarta reading "Welcome to Pollution City", with an illustration of a couple holding their noses.
Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has sacked four ministers, also warlords, who were involved in deadly clashes with Islamic courts militia over control of the lawless capital and its northern outskirts. In the latest clashes on Sunday, Islamic gunmen seized control of the strategic town of Balad township, around 30km north of Mogadishu.
A radical plan to restructure international football, prepared for top European clubs, envisages the World Cup being held every two years, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The proposal, called ”Grand Slam World”, is part of a presentation commissioned by the G-14 grouping of European clubs — a collection of the 18 richest sides in Europe — by Hypercube, a Dutch consultancy.
South African telecommunications giant Telkom on Monday filed for an overall price reduction to the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa). Telkom said that customers are set to benefit from overall price reductions from August this year if price changes filed by the telecommunications giant are approved by Icasa.
The marine unit involved in the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November had suffered a ”total breakdown” in discipline and had drug and alcohol problems, according to the wife of one of the battalion’s staff sergeants. The allegations in Newsweek magazine contribute to an ever more disturbing portrait of embattled marines under high stress.
The 500-million people who live in the world’s desert regions can expect to find life increasingly unbearable as already high temperatures soar and the available water is used up or turns salty, according to the United Nations. Desert cities in the United States and Middle East, such as Phoenix and Riyadh, may be living on borrowed time as water tables drop and supplies become undrinkable.
Former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni has missed the deadline to ask the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal against a four-year prison sentence. A spokesperson for the registrar’s office at the Supreme Court said at the weekend the deadline was last Monday.
A famed South African former dancer and his ex-ballerina wife have opened up a new world and possible career prospects for children from Cape Town’s poor slums through free dance lessons. The project launched by Philip Boyd and his wife, Phyllis Spira — one of the country’s top ballerinas in her heyday — now encompasses about 600 children.