The JSE Securities Exchange roared to a record high on Friday, propelled by higher commodity prices and spill-over buying from Wednesday’s interrupted futures closeout. The gains came despite a firmer rand. By 12.08pm, the all share index advanced 0,8% to 14 323,94, having earlier touched an all-time high of 14 346,42.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il said on Friday that the communist country was willing to return to nuclear disarmament talks in July if the United States ”recognises and respects” his country. He added, however, that his country needs ”further consultations with the United States.”
New World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz on Thursday said the international community could do more to help Darfur, the troubled region of Western Sudan. Wolfowitz said he was ”certain that the bank has a role to play” in the reconstructing Darfur, calling the situation that prevails there currently a ”post-genocide situation”.
Women’s soccer should promote ”lovely looking” players to attract more sponsors, according to Uefa president Lennart Johansson. ”If you see a girl playing on the ground, sweaty, with the rainy weather and coming out of the dressing room, lovely looking, that would sell.”
With an income of -million, Oprah Winfrey is the world’s most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes magazine which placed the talk show queen at the top of its annual ranking of the 100 personalities with the biggest pull. In second place for the second year in a row, Tiger Woods pulls in -million.
A dinner party at the home of the South African deputy high commissioner to Botswana was ruined when guests were seriously assaulted in a robbery in Gaborone on Thursday. ”They [the dinner guests] were very badly assaulted and burnt with an iron,” said High Commissioner Eunice Komane.
Zimbabwe has extended the destruction of informal homes and businesses from the cities to rural areas, police told state radio on Friday. A police spokesperson said his force has started tearing down shacks and kiosks found at major crossroads in the Midlands area, as well as homes built without permission.
The United States business community sees great potential for growth in the relationship between the US and South Africa, with more and more US businesses interested in investing in, exporting to, and importing from this country, according to Thomas Donohue, president of the US Chamber of Commerce.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Moviegoers in 32 countries have been flocking to see Mr and Mrs Smith, the action-thriller starring screen icons Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, writes Thami Masemola.
The board of directors of Stilfontein Gold Mining Company Limited — including Brett and Roger Kebble — have resigned en masse following the failure by AngloGold Ashanti to nominate new directors to the Stilfontein board. Stilfontein is unable to pay the R1,8-million a month the Johannesburg High Court ordered it to contribute to pumping costs in the Kosh basin.