A small town in New England has won the competition to host the premiere of <i>The Simpsons Movie</i>. Springfield, Vermont, which shares its name with the cartoon hometown of Homer Simpson and his dysfunctional family, beat off competition from 13 other Springfields across the United States to claim the prize.
Thousands of pregnant women have been tested for HIV since Liberia introduced a programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission eight months ago.
Carnoustie was such a brutal test in the 1999 British Open that tabloids referred to it as ”Car-Nasty” and there were far more complaints than birdies. Sergio Garcia cried in his mother’s arms after an 89 in the first round, while Fred Funk withdrew after an 83 in the first round because he was fed up with narrow fairways and knee-high rough.
All Black midfield back Luke McAlister confirmed on Wednesday he is seriously considering a move to English club Sale following this year’s World Cup. But the 23-year-old denied a British report that he has already signed a £250 000 contract and said he would not make a decision until the end of the month.
”Patience.” That is what South Africa’s Robbie Hunter asks of his fans for the duration of the Tour de France. Hunter, captain of team Barloworld, has been inundated with questions from fans who want to know why Barloworld has not already been in a breakaway and why he does not have his team around him to lead him out at the finish.
The JSE came off in the opening on Wednesday but has come back a bit, supported by a tad lower rand at midday. The bourse has also had a little nudge by the resource index, which has improved. At 12.01pm, the all-share index was flat (-0,01%). Resources gained 0,50%, the gold index eased 0,76% and the platinum-index slipped 0,12%.
From Africa to Russia, from Peru to China, mining companies face a problem: the workers who haul up the earth’s riches are coming down with HIV/Aids, and it is hampering operations at a time of booming demand for minerals. Worldwide the disease has killed about 30-million people, double the amount of casualties in World War I.
Libya’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld death sentences on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, a judge said. ”The court rejects the appeals of the defendants and confirms the death penalty,” judge Fathi Dhan told a five-minute hearing.
The Democratic Alliance has asked Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla what she is doing to resolve the issue of Judge John Hlophe. The DA said it had noted with great concern Hlophe’s continued ”obvious contempt” for judicial process, spokesperson Tertius Delport said in a statement.
Envelopes with cash have been left in public restrooms across Japan, officials said on Wednesday, as the bizarre form of anonymous charity turned into a nationwide phenomenon. A day after two small cities on the main island of Honshu reported finding cash in men’s rooms in public buildings, officials across Japan disclosed that they too had discovered such mysterious packages.