A PALESTINIAN woman celebrates the release of 227 Palestinian prisoners by Israel on their arrival in Ramallah on Monday. The prisoners were freed as a gesture to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to mark the Eid al-Adha festival.
AT HOME
SA's banks avoid real competition and operate as a close-knit oligopoly, if not as a cartel, says a competition commission report, whose recommendations on lower transaction and interbank charges, it says, would cut banks' earnings by 1%-2%. Steel giant ArcelorMittal SA says it is to lay off 1 000 of its 2 500 contract workers. The Reserve Bank cuts the repo rate for the first time in 3½ years, by 0,5% to 11,5%, despite an inflation rate of 12,4% in October (its target range is 3%-6%). The rand rises 1,3% to R10,02/US$. SA is to launch its first national satellite on around March 25, from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The 81 kg earth observation microsatellite was built by Stellenbosch company SunSpace & Information Systems for R11m (the total project cost is R26m). The City of Johannesburg launches its new hi-tech CCTV control centre. SA bans EU meat and dairy products after dioxin is found in Irish meat. The ANC loses its court bid to block the use of the name Congress of the People (Cope) by a breakaway party, which holds its inaugural congress in Bloemfontein.ABROAD
Former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff is arrested for securities fraud through which some of the biggest names in global finance claim to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in an alleged US$50bn "pyramid scheme". George W Bush pays a surprise farewell visit to Iraq, where an Iraqi journalist insults the US president at a press conference by throwing his shoes at him. World markets fall sharply after US Republican senators block a $15bn emergency loan to US auto makers. The White House then says it could use money from the $700bn banks rescue fund to save the car giants. KB Toys, one of the largest US toy retailers, files for bankruptcy protection and plans liquidation sales in the middle of the holiday season. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is charged with putting president-elect Barack Obama's senate seat up for sale. China, Japan and South Korea team up to respond to the global recession. A South Korean court fines the parents of an 18-year-old rapist $60 000 for failing to supervise their son. A Russian businessman trademarks the Emoticon combination of exclamation marks designed to convey a wink in text messages. UK prime minister Gordon Brown says most of the serious terrorist plots probed by Britain have links to Pakistan. F1 racing boss Max Mosley gets motor companies to agree on cheaper engines and other cost cutting to save the sport after Honda's pullout. Zimbabwe says Botswana is plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.SPORT
Ajax Cape Town beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 in the Telkom Knockout final. SA lose to Western Australia by seven wickets. India beat England by six wickets in the first of two five-day test matches in Chennai. Annika Sorenstam finishes seven shots behind winner Anja Monke in her last golf tournament, in Dubai.
Ranking the Analysts 2009
