A leading British supermarket chain was left with egg on its face when it got muddled over the meaning of Easter in an advert to promote chocolate egg sales, the Times reported on Wednesday. Handing out Easter eggs symbolises ”the birth of Jesus”, explained the Somerfield chain in a press release.
The sixth major cyclone to hit Madagascar this season tore across the north-east of the impoverished Indian Ocean island this week, the most recent in a relentless succession of natural disasters that has left nearly half a million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.
The Central African Republic faces a mounting humanitarian disaster, with the lives of a quarter of its people disrupted by civil and regional warfare, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Wednesday. It said the north of the country is engulfed in a growing conflict between government forces and various rebel groups.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich increased pressure on Ukraine’s president on Wednesday, boycotting the campaign for a poll ordered by a leader aiming to restore his authority two-and-a-half years after the ”Orange Revolution”. Under Ukrainian law, the campaign opened on Wednesday.
A mineworker at a coal mine near Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal died on Wednesday when a roof support apparently collapsed and struck him. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said the miner was brought to the surface by the mine’s own rescue team. The miner had suffered severe head injuries that probably led to his death.
The Mozambican government will pay disability grants of up to R500 per month to victims of last month’s Malhazine armoury blasts, Vista News reports. Government spokesperson Luis Covane told independent television channel STv on Wednesday that the grants will be paid after an assessment to ascertain the degree of injury.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni has sought to soothe markets rattled by a sudden surge in the country’s current-account deficit, but his view that the bulge is merely a blip does not fit with the figures. Hundreds of thousands of new cars bought last year helped push oil imports higher in the fourth quarter.
Thailand’s military-appointed government blocked access to video-sharing website YouTube on Wednesday after its owner, Google, declined to withdraw a video clip mocking the country’s revered monarch. Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said he had ordered a block of the entire site from Thailand.
Long live Madam & Eve Madam & Eve has been successfully poking fun at us since the early days of our political transition and the strip has always been a good reason to buy the Mail & Guardian (along with your great arts magazine). Granted, they’re not as punchy and hard-hitting as they used to […]
South Africa’s state arms agency Armscor sold hundreds of millions of rounds of small arms ammunition into the open market in conflict with government policy, Business Day newspaper said on Wednesday. A secret forensic report in 2005 showed Armscor had sold ammunition for AK-47, R-4 and R-5 rifles to Industrie Spreewerk Lubben in Germany.