United States President Bush on Monday lavished praise on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at their first summit together, saying he was a man of principle who understood the ideological war against terrorism. But over two days of talks held at Camp David, Brown retained his right to withdraw British troops from Iraq more quickly than the Americans.
Australian scientists said on Tuesday they had isolated the substance that gives red wine its peppery aroma, allowing them to modulate the bouquet of one of the country’s most popular varieties. The Australian Wine Research Institute said its scientists spent five years trying to find out what gave Shiraz wine its destinctive black pepper fragrance.
Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times, said on Monday it would be a ”worthy competitor” for News Corp if Rupert Murdoch’s company succeeded in buying the Wall Street Journal. It said it was exploring TV tie-ups to strengthen its position.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Friday he is putting the building blocks in place for a community-developed web search service that would compete with search engines such as Google or Yahoo! The new Wikia search service will combine computer-driven algorithms and human-assisted editing.
A picture of death and destruction emerged on Monday as officials counted the cost of veld fires that ravaged several provinces. By late afternoon, nine fires were still burning in Mpumalanga and Swaziland. More runaway fires were also reported in KwaZulu-Natal.
National Empowerment Fund chief executive Philisiwe Buthelezi has described the fund’s offer of discounted shares in MTN as "unique, exciting and historic". There have been other retail offerings reserved exclusively for black people over the years, most recently Telkom’s Khulisa scheme.
The BEE Codes serve as a useful basis on which to benchmark the BEE efforts and initiatives of South African companies. Their strength lies in the fact that they allow everyone to make a contribution to transforming our economy. That said, their breadth often leads to difficult choices, writes Kevin Lester.
Vuyo Jack, the young god-father of BEE, is no grey businessman with a one-track mind and an eye only for the figures. He is a philosopher who believes in meditation and had he not decided on becoming a chartered accountant, he would have been a musician and a filmmaker.
A child plays in a stagnant pool of water beside a mongrel dog that gives out a half-hearted bark before retiring in the sun-baked dust. Take a stroll from here into Babylon, an informal settlement. The filth and decay, the lack of water and proper sanitary facilities in Babylon and other informal settlements in Namibia are a blueprint for a disaster.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation rate could reach over 100 000% by the end of the year. ”If recent monthly trends continue, [IMF] staff projects that year-on-year inflation could well exceed 100 000% by year-end,” Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, director of the IMF’s Africa department, said.