A multibillion-rand manganese empowerment deal is on the brink of collapse because a Chinese-led company has attempted to monopolise the deal through shareholder misrepresentation, sources close to the transaction have claimed. The Department of Minerals and Energy will invoke Section 47 of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act to cancel the lucrative manganese prospecting rights.
The Bank of Japan raised interest rates from zero for the first time in six years, in a move that reflected growing confidence in the country’s economic recovery. The nine members of the central bank’s board voted unanimously in favour of a modest rise of a quarter of a percentage point.
United States President George W Bush was against diplomacy before he was for it. But with the collapse of US foreign policy from the Middle East to North Korea he has claimed to have become a born-again realist. ”And it’s, kind of … painful .. for some to watch, because it takes a while to get people on the same page,” he said at his July 7 press conference.
China’s annual growth soared to 11,3% in the second quarter of this year, the fastest rise in more than a decade, on the back of strong exports and investment, the Chinese government said this week. The world’s fourth-largest economy may now face higher interest rates, economists believe, to reduce its reliance on cheap money and the risk of overheating.
In the middle of the World Cup, I was on BBC radio, arguing with Fiona McIntosh, a Grazia magazine columnist, about the Wags who, at the time, were the wives and girlfriends of the England football team. At the moment, the Wags have become the Swags (Summit Wives and Girlfriends, for G8).
A radical plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions by rationing the carbon use of individuals is being drawn up by British government officials. The scheme could force consumers to carry a swipe card that records their personal carbon allocation, with points knocked off each time they buy petrol or tickets for a flight.
Nadine Botha reports on dance pieces that show how our existence is a mixture of being and pretending.
Movie director Fanney Tsimong talks about his love for filmmaking and his dislike to being referred to as a “gay director”.
Nothing can describe the feeling of having worked tirelessly for 15 years rebuilding a country from the ruins of war, only to see it once again laid waste within a period of days. Just more than a week ago, the Lebanese were only beginning to reap the benefits of all their toils, with the summer tourist season making a major comeback.
The real aim is to change the regime in Lebanon and to install a puppet government. That was the aim of Ariel Sharon’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It failed. But Sharon and his pupils in the military and political leadership have never really given up on it.