Caffeine can help athletes by boosting the body’s absorption of carbohydrates, scientists at the University of Birmingham said on Wednesday. According to a study conducted by researchers at the university’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, introducing caffeine into sports drinks increases the absorption rate of carbohydrates by 26%.
United States feminist Gloria Steinem was among a small group of protestors on Wednesday who sought to take the sparkle out of the gala opening in New York of South African diamond giant De Beers’ first US showroom. The protest, organised by the lobby group Survival International, picketed celebrities like Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan as they arrived at the event.
The trade union Solidarity on Wednesday threatened ”the biggest strike this year” should its members in the metal and engineering industry reject their employers’ final offer of a 4,8% to 5,8% pay rise. General secretary Johan Pieterse said it appeared that the employers were bent on forcing a strike.
When Billy Graham came to preach in New York in 1957 his trip was regarded as ambitious, verging on foolhardy. Back then, New York was regarded as synonymous with sin — a hub for loose morals and fast living, luring and then corrupting the innocent from Middle America.
A Japanese hamburger chain will on Thursday start selling whale-meat burgers, hours after the International Whaling Commission condemned Tokyo’s plans to double the number of whales it kills during so-called research hunts. Despite condemnation, Japan has recently stepped up its campaign to promote whalemeat consumption.
The Nobel laureate and gentle giant Jack Kilby, who has died of cancer aged 81, was acknowledged as the inventor of the microchip. He had just joined Texas Instruments in 1958 when he came up with what is called the monolithic idea — to put all the elements of an electronic circuit on a single silicon chip.
Food crises in Mali and Niger are ”forgotten emergencies,” senior officials of the World Food Programme warned on Wednesday, renewing an appeal for assistance that has gone largely ignored by the international community. The parched soil has yielded little in the last five years, due to successive droughts and inconsistent rains.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who was appointed as the new deputy president on Wednesday, is known as the architect of the empowerment charter that is transforming South Africa’s mining industry. But opposition parties say there are serious — and unanswered — questions hanging over her head.
President Thabo Mbeki has appointed Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as deputy president to replace Jacob Zuma, who was sacked last week. Mbeki made the announcement during a press conference following the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting at Tuynhuys on Wednesday.
South Africans were on tenterhooks on Wednesday ahead of the announcement by President Thabo Mbeki of his new deputy. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel and Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka have emerged as the frontrunners for the post.