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/ 2 December 2005
Every surfer has a romantic longing that cannot be quelled, charter boat companies identified it and catered for it. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. Take away the hardships of travel and the time-wasting missions of local transport and stand-by plane tickets. Take away the grovel and the endeavour, the luck and uncertainties of finding good waves. Ker-ching!
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/ 2 December 2005
Tiny Laos is often seen as sparking little interest in a dynamic Asian region, but 30 years after the communists took power, it is at the heart of a struggle for influence among its neighbours. Chinese investments, the daily traffic of people along the border with southwestern China’s Yunnan province and the rising number of Chinese vehicles in Laos show Beijing has a keen eye on the Laotian market.
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/ 2 December 2005
A young Australian heroin smuggler’s legal and diplomatic battle to avoid execution ended swiftly on Friday when he was hanged in a Singapore prison after all appeals were exhausted. Singaporean activists are campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the South-East Asian financial and technological centre.
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/ 2 December 2005
Arthur Goldstuck’s new book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Going Wireless, delves into wireless communication in South Africa.
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/ 2 December 2005
Chinese authorities have arrested five Tibetan monks who refused to denounce their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and recognise Tibet as part of China, an India-based pro-democracy group says. The five were expelled from Drepung Monastery in Lhasa and handed over to the Public Security Bureau on November 23.
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/ 2 December 2005
The proposed R38-billion takeover of Swedish life insurer Skandia by South African financial and insurance giant Old Mutual plc has been approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, Old Mutual said in a statement on Friday. The group hopes to have all of the necessary regulatory approvals in place by mid-January.
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/ 2 December 2005
Thai police have been asked to investigate the guide book Bangkok Inside Out after the government’s director of cultural monitoring, Ladda Tangsuphachai, reportedly found it too realistic. The Kom Chad Luek newspaper said the book was criticised for discussing ”negative subjects such as fake goods, gambling, gay performances, touts and scams”.
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/ 2 December 2005
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World Aids Day was marked around the globe on Thursday as a moment for much concern, and a small amount of hope. Tentative signs of progress in preventing the spread of HIV and treating those with it are outweighed by the failures of governments, both donors and recipients, to confront the pandemic with the urgency it deserves.
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/ 2 December 2005
One of South Africa’s most successful opera singers, Deon van der Walt, was found dead on Thursday at his family’s wine estate in northern Paarl after being shot twice in the chest. During his career as tenor, Van der Walt performed in many prestigious opera houses and won several prizes.
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/ 2 December 2005
South African doctors are going head to head with the government over alleged unregulated clinical trials on HIV-positive South Africans using the controversial Dr Matthias Rath’s unregistered vitamins. The South African Medical Association has joined the Treatment Action Campaign in suing the South African government.