A virus that has killed 25 children and infected thousands across China will not threaten Beijing’s Olympic Games in August, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in comments published on Monday. Health authorities in China have been battling to contain outbreaks of EV71, a sometimes fatal intestinal virus.
The head of Germany’s Social Democrats, who has ambitions to be his country’s next leader, is thinking about donating his beard to charity, but is not quite sure. Kurt Beck, who has a strong claim to lead the SPD into next year’s national election, said he might shave off his beard to raise €1-million for charity.
Inflation has moved well out of its target of 3% to 6% and looks set to stay that way for at least the next 18 months. At the same time volatility in the stock market has increased. During this difficult period, will absolute fund managers be able to meet their inflation-linked targets?
A shipment of weapons from China destined for Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe is an obvious cause for the West to denounce Beijing’s involvement in Africa. But Western business and political leaders have already been watching China’s re-engagement with the continent with trepidation.
Hundreds of children are still being born with birth defects as a result of the world’s worst industrial disaster 23 years ago in the central Indian town of Bhopal, say campaigners. They are demanding that the Indian government provide immediate medical care and conduct research into the "hidden" health impacts.
South African consumers fed up with the delay in Apple’s iPhone reaching our shores are paying excessive prices to get their hands on "grey imports", which are cracked to work on local mobile networks such as MTN, Cell C and Vodacom. But they might not have to for much longer. Vodacom’s spokesperson, Dot Field, said the mobile operator will make an announcement on the iPhone next week.
Although the Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) has been censured for its blacks-only membership, overtly white racist organisations such as the AWB seem to have been left to relaunch recently. This is a contradiction that requires serious intervention by the SA Human Rights Commission and the government. They are a bigger threat than the FBJ could ever be.
Ferial Haffajee recently spent a night at a new Holiday Inn, which aims to draw tourism to a dirt-poor area dripping with culture. It is a different end of town for a four-star hotel, but Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo who owns the Kliptown Holiday Inn is a woman with big dreams.
When was the last time you heard from Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa, Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff, Northern Cape’s Dipuo Peters or even KwaZulu-Natal’s S’bu Ndebele? I reckon not lately. It may be true that some, such as Marshoff and Peters, have always had a low public profile anyway. But Shilowa and Ndebele?
The South African Local Government Association (Salga) came out against the proposed increase of 53% in electricity prices during a meeting in Kimberly. Chairperson Amos Masondo said: ”The proposed hike will have a debilitating effect on not only the planning processes of municipalities but also on the quality of life of our people, particularly the poor.”