Even Jane Austen would have trouble finding a publisher today, a struggling author revealed on Thursday. David Lassman sent off to 18 publishers assorted chapters from Austen novels in which he changed just the titles and the names of the characters.
Two British teenage girls arrested in Ghana allegedly in possession of several kilogrammes of cocaine were remanded in custody when they appeared in court on Wednesday, officials said. The hearing at a juvenile court in Accra, their second appearance in a week, took place behind closed doors.
Emerging markets specialist Standard Chartered is in takeover talks with South Africa’s fourth-biggest bank, Nedbank Group, media reports said on Thursday. Nedbank spokesperson Graham Lillie declined to comment on the report. ”We don’t comment on market speculation”.
The confidence of South African consumers has declined over 11% in the last 12 months, the latest MasterIndex survey released on Thursday showed. Out of a possible 100 index points, the South African MasterIndex declined from a record high of 91,1 points for the second half of 2006, to 86,5.
Rwanda called on the United Nations on Wednesday to take action against peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accused of trading food and intelligence with Rwandan Hutu rebels for gold. The world body is investigating allegations made against Indian troops in eastern DRC’s North Kivu province.
Judy Sexwale, wife of former Gauteng premier and presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale, was hijacked while picking up their son from school on Wednesday. The incident took place outside St David’s Marist School in Sandton where she was threatened by three armed men who pulled her from her BMW.
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Nelson Mandela’s 89th birthday was celebrated on Wednesday with a charity match in which an African XI drew 3-3 with a Rest of the World team. Mandela, who has dedicated his life to the promotion of human rights and democracy, was honoured by the ”90 Minutes for Mandela” all-star game.
When did the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s ankle-length red dress turn into a black mini? That was the question posed by a representative of the public broadcaster at the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>’s screening of the documentary <i>Unauthorised: Thabo Mbeki</i> in Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
Uganda’s flower industry needs government incentives and preferential European Union access to succeed, say members of the East African nation’s floricultural sector. Uganda is Africa’s fifth-largest flower exporter, dealing solely in roses and chrysanthemum cuttings.
Need a licence to do journalism? Unthinkable in South Africa. But in the past year, Mozambique’s democratic government has suggested exactly this. As you read this, Kenya and Tanzania are seeking to legislate the same. From Senegal to Nigeria, Mali to Ethiopia, the practice is: you want to be a journalist, you register.