A bank run by women for women is being launched in Germany to tailor financial services to female needs in a sector traditionally governed by a very male suit-and-tie brigade. Its name? What else — Frauenbank, or Women’s Bank. The idea was the brainchild of Astrid Hastreiter, a 41-year-old information technology specialist who said she was spurred on by a few observations.
Budding artists at Baghdad’s School of Music and Ballet might dream of fame, but few would care to boast of their talents in violence-racked Iraq where religious extremists frown on music and condemn dancing. The school, which was looted after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, is tucked away behind the main Iraqi army base in the capital, one that has been targetted at least five times by car bombers.
The National Prosecuting Authority will investigate and prosecute companies fronting as black empowerment businesses, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday. The Department of Trade and Industry on Tuesday explained to Parliament the nuts and bolts of the codes of practice of BEE.
The last time John Travolta appeared in a musical it was alongside Olivia Newton John as the smooth-operating matinee idol Danny in Grease, the most successful movie musical of all time. Twenty-eight years later, the Hollywood star is going back to his toe-tapping roots to take on the role of Edna Turnblad in a new film version of Hairspray.
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The streets outside the Johannesburg High Court were quiet ahead of the resumption of Jacob Zuma’s rape trial on Wednesday. The streets, usually filled with singing, dancing, placard-waving protesters, showed only the usual early morning dash for the surrounding offices.
Test cricket’s greatest wicket-taker Shane Warne has admitted his off-field antics with a series of women cost him not only his marriage but also a chance to captain Australia. In a candid interview with The Bulletin magazine, the spin wizard describes himself variously as ”an idiot” and ”a dickhead” for his well-publicised extra-marital sexual escapades.
Villarreal drew 1-1 with Rangers on Tuesday to win on away goals and reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time. Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands opened the scoring in the 12th minute at El Madrigal stadium after a mistake by Villarreal goalkeeper Sebastian Viera.
Forty-five migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have drowned in two separate incidents while trying to reach Spain, the Spanish Red Cross said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Jaime Bara said 23 people had drowned when a small boat carrying 43 migrants collided with a rescue boat and broke in two off the coast of western Sahara.
Zimbabwe’s national blood transfusion service has been crippled by a lack of foreign currency and mobile teams have stopped collecting blood, local reports said on Tuesday. Mobile blood collecting teams bring in about 70% of Zimbabwe’s national blood stocks, the state-run Herald said.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been urged to probe the financial links between its youth league and the late Brett Kebble. Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson Ian Davidson said a scandal had erupted from court papers filed by Randgold & Exploration that implicated Kebble and at least three ANC Youth League heavyweights ”in outright fraud”.