The inquiry into the capsizing of a dinner party cruise vessel in Bahrain, in which 58 people, including five South Africans, died, is likely to focus on the final minutes before the dhow set sail. Survivors said there were long discussions between the captain of the Dana and the tour operator before the vessel cast off.
Jill Carroll, the American journalist who spent three months as a hostage in Iraq, returned to the United States on Sunday in a homecoming clouded by charges from conservative bloggers that she had fallen under the influence of her kidnappers.
China’s pandas and Madagascar’s lemurs have found unexpected new allies in a handful of mining companies and oil firms. Though natural-resource-consuming big businesses may seem unlikely champions of environmental conservation, a few are actually in the vanguard of a programme protecting forests and endangered species in Asia, Africa and around the world.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Sunday increased pressure for an end to Iraq’s political deadlock and the speedy formation of a national unity government, during a surprise visit to Baghdad. ”The Iraqi people are losing patience,” Rice said after meeting Sunni, Shia and Kurdish leaders. ”What is more, your international allies want to see this done.”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is poised to launch a bid to transform the global politics of oil by seeking a deal with consumer countries which would lock in a price of $50 a barrel. A long-term agreement at that price could allow Venezuela to count its huge deposits of heavy crude as part of its official reserves, which Caracas says would give it more oil than Saudi Arabia.
"Blade Nzimande, general secretary of the South African Communist Party, is a strange communist leader of a strange communist party. His online attack last week in the journal <i>Umsebenzi</i>, on some of the left (outside the tripartite alliance) who stood in the elections or who advocated a boycott is unbecoming," writes Ebrahim Harvey.
In a months time, thousands of parents will gather in school halls and classrooms to vote for their representatives on school governing bodies (SGBs). As in any good political battle, there will be jostling for positions and plenty of promises. Once the ballots have been tallied, these parent representatives will meet with teaching and non-teaching staff and learner representatives, often after a work day or on a Saturday. The meetings will take place at least once a term, to discuss, argue and debate issues ranging from the maintenance of buildings to exemption from school fees.
The only two organisations in South Africa that have been representing the interests of school governing bodies (SGBs) have both split — ahead of the next round of SGB elections that will start next month.
Black-owned diversified firm Mvelaphanda Group on Monday announced that the suspensive agreement by which Incwala Resources would acquire a 22,9% in mining group Mvelaphanda Resources had fallen through. The conditions included obtaining the consent of the Mvela board for the transfer of the management agreement to Incwala.
A great number of high-level financial services players are leaving the business world to pursue "personal interests". Over the past two years, we have seen Pete Backwell of Nedcor head off to become an avocado farmer, then Wendy Lucas Bull packed up, after heading FNB Retail for four years, to pursue altruistic causes, and last year Laurie Dippenaar, CE of FirstRand, decided he needed to slow down.