No image available
/ 21 November 2005
The head of the International Gymnastics Federation said on Monday the alleged abuse of young Chinese gymnasts preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was a ”very delicate issue”. In a report for BBC Radio aired last week, British Olympic rowing great Matthew Pinsent described children in a Beijing gymnasium being pushed through the pain barrier and said one young boy had clearly been beaten by his coach.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
Progress has been made in tackling HIV infection in key African countries, but five million people were infected across the world in 2005 taking the total beyond a record 40-million, a United Nations report said on Monday. The grim HIV/Aids epidemic claimed about 3,1-million lives during the year, more than half a million of them children, the report said.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
The stone, mud and thatch huts of Letseng-La-Terae, atop Lesotho’s Maluti mountains, seem a glaring anachronism beside the high-tech Letseng Diamond Mine across the road. Locals show a deep distrust for outsiders, and at an altitude of 3 200m, the mine may be the world’s most rarified diamond operation.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
The JSE was a mixed bag just before midday on Monday, with the overall index just slightly lower due to profit-taking and a stronger rand. Good demand for gold and telecoms stocks ensured that the JSE’s losses were limited, however. By 11.56am, the all-share index was down a marginal 0,07%.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe will process recently discovered uranium deposits in order to resolve its chronic electrical power shortage, state radio said on Sunday. Mugabe, who has close ties with two countries with controversial nuclear programmes, Iran and North Korea, made the announcement on Saturday.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
Absa Group Limited’s headline earnings for the six months to September 30 grew by 24,6% to R3-billion from R2,4-billion in the same period last year, the company said on Monday. Headline earnings per share increased by 22,5 percent to 454,8 cents per share.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
The makers of Europe’s toilet paper and other household paper good are contributing to deforestation by failing to offer consumers enough recycled products, conservationists said on Monday. The vast majority of their products contain ”alarmingly low levels” of recycled fibres, said the WWF.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
The port of Richards Bay, the largest in South Africa by volume, is to get a R600-million boost to improve its cargo handling capacity, a National Ports Authority official said. Port manager Thami Ntshingila said the investment, which will be made in 2006, will enable the port to handle increased cargo volumes spurred by the country’s economic growth.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
Doubts are being cast on the guilt of a Texas man executed more than a dozen years ago after the crime’s lone witness recanted and a co-defendant said he allowed his friend to be falsely accused under police pressure, the Houston Chronicle reported on Sunday.
No image available
/ 21 November 2005
Former Legal Resources Centre director and KwaZulu-Natal Judge Chris Nicholson appears to be an early front-runner to hear the explosive Jacob Zuma corruption case, set down for next July. Law professionals, in what is still officially the Natal Division, say Nicholson’s name is frequently cited among the judges in the division who are seen as sufficiently senior to try the case.