FIVE armed men took crime to new lows on Tuesday, boarding a Japanese trawler in Cape Town harbour and making off with a safe containing some $30000. Police spokeswoman Nina Kirsten said the men pistol-whipped a security guard aboard the Wakashio Maru before midnight, vandalised the bridge and master’s cabin, and removed the safe, then […]
EGYPTIAN police have seized 138 kg of raw elephant ivory in a raid on a tourist bazaar warehouse in the southern region of Aswan. The 78 pieces of uncarved tusk had been smuggled from Central Africa for distribution to ivory traders in Egypt. The Egyptian Minister of State for Environment Affairs Nadia Makram Ebeid says […]
FOREIGN Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma left Tokyo to return to South Africa on Tuesday after completing a two-day trip to Japan where she urged Japanese politicians, leaders and businesses to write off foreign debt. While in Tokyo, she met with her Japanese counterpart Yohei Kono, and asked him to consider that South Africa and Algeria be […]
THE University of Venda’s vice-chancellor, Geso Moses Nkondo, abused his credit card and irregularly spent over R200000 in taxfunds on personal expenses, the Heath Special Investigative Unit said on Tuesday. Unit spokesman Guy Rich said in a statement Nkondo admitted the “improper and irregular” expenditure after a two-year and has already begun repaying the money. […]
ZIMBABWEAN businessman Billy Rautenbach has been removed as chief executive of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s mining giant Gecamines, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Rautenbach had been in talks with Gecamines and other parties after the country’s mining ministry revoked a joint venture between the state-owned company and Rautenbach’s firm, Ridgepoint Overseas Development. He […]
UGANDAN forensic experts extended a gruesome investigation on Tuesday into a doomsday sect which appears to have murdered more than 500 people in a church blaze and other mass killings in Uganda. Thirteen more bodies have been found buried beneath a house belonging to one of the leaders of the cult. The 13 bodies, which […]
THE International Monetary Fund has approved a $50-million credit for Mozambique and says the funds will be available on an accelerated basis in light of the devastating floods that have struck the country. The IMF’s executive board approved the loan under terms of the IMF’s “poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF),” which makes financial assistance […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 5.00pm. THE JSE suffered a setback on Tuesday, dragged down by a weaker gold price, ending the day 1,86% or 153 points lower. Resources took the biggest knock, closing play 3,05% or 152 points in the red. Gold lost a whopping $3,45 on the day and at 4pm was trading […]
MORE than 40000 jobs in the formal business sector, excluding agriculture, were lost between September and December last year, the government’s Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. The total employment in the sector fell by 2,5% or 121,476 employees for the whole of last year. These figures exclude self-employed people who are not registered for […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abjua | Wednesday 12.45pm FIFTEEN people have been killed in unrest between Muslims and Christians which broke out earlier this week in the far northeast of Nigeria. At least 15 people died in the clashes which erupted over plans to locate a church in a Muslim-dominated area of northern Borno State. On Tuesday, […]
QUICK-bowler Mfuneko Ngam has been included in the Eastern province squad for the Standard Bank limited-overs final clash against Boland in Paarl on Wednesday. Ngam is being given a chance to prove his talents even though he injured his foot last week. The 21-year-old Ngam will join EP stalwarts Mark rushmere, Dave Callaghan and Meyrick […]
THE Finance Ministry reported “enthusiastic demand” on onday for a further $750-million in 9,125% global dollar bonds maturing in 2009. The total issue now stands at $1,25-million. Lead managers are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. “The department of finance is very pleased with the enthusiastic demand for the bond,” it said in a […]
CRICKET in South Africa will receive R35-million in development funding, the largest amount of money ever earmarked for amateur cricket, from the United Cricket Board over the next year, director of amateur cricket Khaya Majola said on Monday. The money will be used mainly in previously disadvantaged communities to develop the sport. Majola said that […]
UGANDAN forensic experts extended a gruesome investigation on Tuesday into a doomsday sect which appears to have murdered more than 500 people in a church blaze and other mass killings in Uganda. Police in Mbarara in the south west of the country said that doctors and criminal investigators are to inspect three new sites on […]
JOHANNESBURG police have arrested four men in connection with the ambush and murder of a Gauteng cyclist on the N1 south of Johannesburg. Cyclist Johan Kruger was only one of several motorists to be murdered over a period of a few weeks on a stretch of highway near Mondeor. Four men aged between 19 and […]
ANGLICAN Archbishop Desmond Tutu will meet Norway’s King Harald and its new prime minister while a guest of the Lutheran Church in Oslo next month. Tutu, the 1984 Nobel peace prizewinner and former Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which has investigated crimes under Apartheid, will be visiting Norway from April 1 to 4. […]
MANDY Adamson signalled her return to competitive golf with a two-shot victory in the Ladies Professional Golf Tour’s Championship at a windy Mowbray Golf Club on Tuesday. Adamson survived a treacherous front nine where she bogeyed two of her first three holes to turn at two-over for the day on her way to a three-over […]
ZIMBABWEAN businessman Billy Rautenbach has been removed as chief executive of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s mining giant Gecamines, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Rautenbach had been in talks with Gecamines and other parties after the country’s mining ministry revoked a joint venture between the state-owned company and Rautenbach’s firm, Ridgepoint Overseas Development. He […]
SOUTH Africa’s Hendrik Ramaala finished twenty-five seconds behind Kenyan Paul Tergat who bettered his own half marathon world best time on Sunday in Lisbon. Tergat clocked 59 minutes six seconds to beat the mark of 59:17 he set in Milan on April 4, 1998 and claim a win-bonus of $100000. Tergat pulled ahead just after […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sharjah | Tuesday 7.45pm. PAKISTAN ripped South Africa apart by 67 runs in the sixth Sharjah Cup match with the Pakistani seamers blowing away eight South African batsmen for 27 runs. The South Africans were set a target of 169 runs after bowling out Pakistan for 168. Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs (59 […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sharjah | Tuesday 4.35pm. PAKISTAN have been dismissed for 168 in the sixth Sharjah Cup one-dayer against South Africa as their batsmen failed to fire and good bowling and fielding by the South Africans took its toll. Yousuf Youhana was the only batsman who really contributed, scoring 65 runs before being run-out in […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nelspruit | Tuesday 3.10pm. MOZAMBIQUE, Malawi and Zimbabwe are jointly planning an oil refinery at the Mozambican port of Beira to meet growing regional energy needs. Malawi’s vice-president Justin Malewezi said a fully functional Nacala corridor will save his country about US55-million a year. News reports in Blantyre on Tuesday said Iran and […]
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki has congratulated Vladimir Putin on his election as Russian president, saying he believed Russia would continue to play a major role in international affairs. Mbeki said South Africa and Russia had both gone through momentous change during the past decade but that many great challenges still lay ahead for both countries and […]
JAMES Loughnane, the Cape Town professional who plays under the Irish flag, won the R500000 Zambia Open for the second time in three years after clawing his way past overnight leader Bradford Vaughan at the very last hole of the tournament. Loughnane finished on 18 under-par after a fourth sub-70 round in a row, with […]
AN unofficial report alleging Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame’s involvement in the 1994 assassination of his country’s president has been found in United Nations files, a UN source said on Monday. The source says “the so-called report” had been written by Michael Hourigan, a former investigator for the international Rwandan war-crimes tribunal in Arusha, and was […]
ALAN FINLAY & Reuters, Johannesburg | Monday 4.45pm. THE JSE ended firmer on Monday with only resources taking a bit of knock finishing 0,22% or 11 points down. Overall share prices held onto last week’s gains, ending 0,42% or 34 points up. Dealers said the market moved against the trend of softer key European bourses, […]
THE government said on Monday it plans to privatise its special risk insurer, Sasria, and invited tenders for advisers for the transaction. The government, working on a tight programme to wrap-up the privatisation of R170-billion worth of state assets by 2004, said in a newspaper advertisment it has resolved to dispose of its entire interest […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday 3.00pm. BAFANA Bafana coach Trott Moloto left out key European-based players and called up five new faces when he named his squad on Tuesday for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Lesotho. Moloto said he wants to concentrate on developing domestic-based talent for a heavy schedule of matches in […]
AN Mpumalanga farm labourer was left paralysed and penniless when she was shot in the head 11 months ago and no one has been arrested because the evidence is lodged in her skull. Police say they need the bullet stuck in 28-year-old Patricia Moswana’s head for ballistic tests, but doctors cannot remove it without killing […]
American Beauty dominated the 72nd Academy Awards this morning, as predicted, scooping five Oscars including best picture, best directing and best actor. The winners are …
CRACK Kenyan striker Mike Okoth, playing for Belgian club Genk, will miss a World Cup qualifier against Malawi in Blantyre on April 8 due to an ankle injury, the Kenya Football Federation said. Another setback for the Harambee Stars is that leading defender Musa Otieno will be released by South African club Santos only 48 […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Conakry | Sunday 6.30pm. SOUTH Africa edged closer to a first appearance at the Olympic Games football tournament by thrashing Guinea 4-1 in a final-round Group B match on Sunday. Goals by captain Matthew Booth, Siyabonga Nomvete and Benni McCarthy gave the visitors a 3-1 half-time lead and Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune […]