It is one way to keep your worried parents informed about your progress as a serving United States soldier in the maelstrom of Afghanistan, though arguably not the most compassionate. Stephen Phillips was out on patrol when he somehow hit the redial button on his cellphone and called the Oregon home number of his mother.
A presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe cannot take place given the current levels of violence, the head of a South African contingent of regional election observers said on Wednesday. ”We have seen it, there are people in hospital who said they have been tortured, you have seen pictures,” Kingsley Mamabolo told reporters.
Pioneer Foods and Foodcorp have been referred to the Competition Tribunal for their alleged role in a bread price-fixing cartel, the Competition Commission said on Wednesday. The two companies could be fined 10% of their annual turnover for the 2006/2007 financial year.
Harmony Gold Mining, the world’s fifth-largest gold producer, on Thursday reported the turning of its fortune. The company swung into a profit in the first three months of 2008 after several quarters of reported losses. Harmony posted a March quarter net profit of R345-million versus the December quarter’s net profit of R46-million.
<b>Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 2 492 091 at noon on May 28</b>
Helping the victims of Burma’s catastrophe: While most of the local and international aid workers in Burma are scrambling to meet the immediate needs of 2,4-million people left stranded by Cyclone Nargis, several organisations are working to ensure that survivors living with HIV are included in the response.
Forgive the paraphrasing but: If Tuesday night was the end of the beginning, then Wednesday morning was the beginning of the end. As the results of Tuesday’s contests in North Carolina and Indiana came through, it became clear that the great primary battle would be winding down.
He’s been described as science’s first real rock star and the most famous physicist never to win a Nobel Prize. He knows black holes and p-branes inside out and he’s headed for South Africa. Cambridge Professor Stephen Hawking, author of the best-selling A Brief History of Time, arrives in Cape Town this week to deliver a public lecture, his first on the African continent.
A high-ranking delegation of Southern African ministers met Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe on Wednesday to discuss the country’s political impasse ahead of a pending presidential run-off, state media reported. The delegation was headed by Angolan Foreign Minister Jose Joao Bernardo Miranda.
The new head of Business Unity South Africa said on Wednesday he was ”quite happy” about the country’s electricity crisis, despite the power cuts and disruption, as it will result in needed change. Brian Molefe said the problems were a ”blessing” in disguise that would force policy changes and greater reliance on alternative sources of energy.
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri expressed ”great concern” on Wednesday about the suspension of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) CEO Dali Mpofu and head of news Snuki Zikalala. ”All will be done on [the minister’s] part to ensure the ability of the SABC to carry out its mandate,” she said.