OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 10.15am. TWO South African athletes competing in the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia injured themselves on their first day of practice for the Games on Sunday. Gymnast Jana Kruger (14) twisted her ankle, but X-rays revealed no fractures and she will be treated over the next few days. Cyclist Simon Kessler […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Victoria Falls | Monday 11.00pm. THE summit held to resolve the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo will run into a second day. The summit, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, started later than planned on Monday because of a round of preparatory meetings in which officials attempted to find a way to broker […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abuja | Monday 6.30pm. NIGERIAN leader General Abdulsalam Abubakar on Monday confirmed that the government is currently investigating several corrupt officials thought to have siphoned billions of dollars off the national coffers under the regime of Abubakar’s predecessor, the late General Sani Abacha. Abacha’s statement comes after media speculation last month that former […]

MUNGO SOGGOT in Johannesburg | Monday 1.30pm. THE Johannesburg High Court on Monday dismissed, with costs, the R7-million defamation suit brought by Liberian politician Emanuel Shaw II against the Mail & Guardian. Deputy Judge President Monis Fleming threw the case out of court and ordered Shaw to pay the M&G’s costs, which are expected to […]

SARAH BULLEN in Johannesburg | Friday 5.30pm. LOCAL stock toasted the end to a turbulent week by ending firmer on Friday, leaving gold pundits smirking as the all gold index gained 11,71% on the day. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s rise came despite an overnight fall in the New York stock market which was expected to […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 6.00pm. SOUTH African oil-from-gas producer Mossgas on Friday signed a R2,2-billion alliance agreement with United Kingdom-based Dresser-Kellogg Energy Service to develop the EM gasfield in the Bredasdorp Basin. The companies have formed what is known as the Bredasdorp Alliance which is the largest contract ever in South Africa using alliance […]

CHRISTIAN FIGENSCHOU, Johannesburg | Thursday 5.00PM. LATEST new vehicle sales figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that sales of new passenger cars slumped in August to the lowest level this year. The only good news came in the heavy commercial sector, where sales held their own in spite of declining business […]

Keith Thomas ON HISTORY by Eric Hobsbawm (Abacus) Eric Hobsbawm turned 80 last year. He is probably the best-known living British historian, certainly the one whose work has been translated into the most languages. He brings to his historical writing some outstanding gifts: a probing intelligence, exceptional analytic power, great linguistic facility and an extremely […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday 9.15pm. MINERAL and Energy Minister Penuell Maduna on Friday apologised to Parliament for inappropriately accusing Auditor-General Henri Kluever of covering up losses of R170-million in the Strategic Fuel Fund in Parliament in June 1997. Maduna’s apology comes after a multi-party parliamentary committee probing the subject for over a year […]

theatre Matthew Krouse In the heart of Hillbrow, on Saturday June 20, the creme of Johannesburg’s gay intelligensia sat alongside their ordinary city counterparts, anticipating the first performance of a long-awaited play, emanating from unexpected quarters. The Harrison Reef Hotel, where the performance was to take place, is legendary. Home to Johannesburg’s oldest gay bar, […]