FRANCE on Thursday named influential centre Emile Ntamack, who has been nursing a knee injury, in their team to face New Zealand in Sunday’s World Cup semifinal and brought back lock Fabien Pelous after a ban. The French made just one change from the team that started their quarter-final defeat of Argentina last weekend with […]

ISLAMIC Sh aria law was formally declared on Wednesday in Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated Zambia State despite opposition. Zambia State Governor Sa ni Aimed has assured opponents to the law that it will be imposed on non-Muslims, but Christians have voiced scepticism. Aimed said that the law aims to eradicate or curb vices such as drunkenness, prostitution, […]

THE office of former president Nelson Mandela on Wednesday issued a statement denying that Mandela has purchased a house in Cape Town on behalf of Libyan President Moammar Gadaffi. The statement denied that a Libyan delegation had met Mandela or anyone connected to his family to discuss the purchase of the Cape Town home. It […]

THE National Assembly has congratulated the Springboks for trouncing England 44-21 in the World Cup quarter-finals at the weekend. In a formal resolution, MPs also congratulated fly-half Jannie de Beer on his record-breaking performance with the boot. The politicians wished the Boks good luck for their semi-final against Australia and called on all South Africans […]

THE Central Energy Fund (CEF) announced on Tuesday that it has secured international loans amounting to $333-million to develop the Mossgas EM gas field. The project, which was approved by government this year, will extend the life of South Africa’s synthetic fuel producing plant at Mossel Bay until 2007. Mossgas currently produces about 7% of […]

KEY New Zealand fly-half and goal kicker Andrew Mehrtens may miss the Rugby World Cup semifinal against France although an injury to his left knee is not serious. Mehrtens had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, near London, and was cleared of serious injury, Wellington’s Evening Postnewspaper said in […]

SHAUN Pollock alomost gave the Proteas a nasty surprise when he pulled up with a slight hamstring strain this weekend. The South Africans face neighbours Zimbabwe in a Test on Friday and Gauteng seamer David Terbrugge has been put on standby for the match in Bloemfontein in case Pollock is unable to play. Proteas coach […]

THE United States Navy and SA National Defence Force units are to stage a joint amphibious training exercise off the west coast next week, the SANDF said in Pretoria on Thursday. The operation, the first of its kind between South Africa and the US, will run from Saturday to Friday next week. A visiting US […]

ENGLISH club Sale launched a blistering attack on South African World Cup fly-half Jannie de Beer on Wednesday as they released the Springbok from his contract with the club. De Beer is to repay money that had already been advanced to him by the club, but Sale director of rugby Adrian Hadley said he feels […]

A REPORT to the National Assembly on the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has been postponed until the first week of November, when MPs return from a week-long constituency break. Communications committee chairman Nat Kekana said the report had to be translated into Afrikaans and vetted by law advisers. It is expected to be tabled […]