No image available
/ 29 November 2005
The gold price broke through the key psychological ceiling of $500 an ounce on Tuesday to a fresh 18-year high, as platinum prices rose above $1 000 for the first time in more than a quarter of a century in a broad metals rally. Gold touched $505,40/oz in Asia — a level last seen in December 1987.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
The JSE remained in the red at midday on Tuesday, but was off its worst levels as the relatively strong rand and soft world markets weighed on the local bourse. Traders said the market showed no reaction to gross domestic product data, released at 11.30am local time, which came in much as expected.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
Eight people were killed and 23 badly hurt on Tuesday in two suicide bombings in Bangladesh that police blamed on Islamic extremists, the latest in a string of attacks in the Muslim-majority nation. Police accused the hard-line group Jamayetul Mujahideen of staging the attacks targeting the nation’s legal system.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
Thanks to prices that are starting to look like telephone numbers, petrol is becoming a grudge purchase, like tyres. With that in mind, fuel companies and their allied filling stations are improving their acts — rarely do you get bad service and the forecourts are generally clean and accessible.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
Yamaha’s MT-01 is not a superbike. At 240kg without any fuel on board it’s about 70kg overweight for the racetrack, and with just 90 ponies held captive in its behemoth 1670cc engine, it’s not powerful enough to kick any modern superbike’s backside at high speed. But the big V-twin has enough going for it to make it a great real-world motorcycle despite these apparent disadvantages.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
I couldn’t think of a better way in which to put the new Mercedes-Benz C320 CDi through its paces than a road trip. So my mum, my sister and I packed everything but the kitchen sink and set off to Durban at 4.30am. The air was crisp and the roads were mostly clear, so it was the perfect opportunity for some spirited driving.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
It was very clever of the Hyundai marketing folk to have a few models of the outgoing Sonata in the showroom with the new Sonata, simply because the new one is a revolutionary departure from the old in just about every aspect. The exterior styling is the most notable improvement.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
South Africa’s real gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally annualised and adjusted basis rose by 4,2% in the third quarter of 2005 from a revised 5,4% (original estimate was a 4,8% gain) in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
Jomo Sono might have been expected to hit the ceiling when the Premier Soccer League on Monday announced the rain-postponed league game between his Jomo Cosmos team and Golden Arrows had been rescheduled for Tuesday — a mere 96 hours before the Coca-Cola Cup final against Supersport United in Polokwane on Saturday.
No image available
/ 29 November 2005
More than 60% of people infected with HIV/Aids call Africa their home — and Southern Africa remains the epicentre of the global Aids epidemic, according to the United Nations’s report on the pandemic that was released recently. Despite some light points, the UNAids report paints a bleak picture of a region where the virus is having a devastating toll on human lives.