Americans are getting fatter at a pace never seen before while government-led attempts to hold in bulging waistlines are doomed to failure, a report claimed on Wednesday. More than 119-million people, 64,5% of the US population, are now considered overweight or obese, according to the Trust for Americans’ Health.
Those who thought the latest series of Big Brother in the United Kingdom plumbed the depths of tackiness apparently haven’t seen anything yet. The programme’s inventor, John de Mol, was on Wednesday night due to launch a new Dutch reality show in which a woman searches for a potential sperm donor.
More than two dozen prominent European film directors, writers and journalists have published an open letter calling for the release of Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter who is today spending her 50th day in jail for refusing to identify confidential sources.
A senior US military officer on Wednesday predicted that al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq will move to the ”vast ungoverned spaces” of the Horn of Africa once conditions in the country get too tough for them. The warning came from Major General Douglas Lute, director of operations at the US’ central command. ”There will come a time when Zarqawi will face too much resistance in Iraq and will move on,” he predicted.
International ratings agency Fitch Ratings on Thursday upgraded South Africa’s long-term foreign-currency rating to "BBB+" from "BBB" and short-term to "F2" from "F3". The long-term local-currency rating has also been upgraded, to "A" from "A-". The outlook for the ratings is stable.
A 15-year-old Ermelo girl was so sick and tired of being raped by her father that she went to the police after her fifth night on the kitchen floor with him, said police. The 45-year-old man told the girl’s mother what he intended doing every time he raped the child, but threatened her with bodily harm if she tried to do anything about it, said police.
The Independent Democrats this week accused the Democratic Alliance of exploiting the poor after a meeting in Cape Town where a property developer tried to convince residents to sell their houses to him at a low price. The DA ward councillor allegedly tried to persuade residents to sell their properties.
African health ministers meeting in Mozambique on Wednesday described a planned 30% increase in spending on their continent by the UN’s World Health Organisation as important, but not enough, given the massive problems to be faced.
Mittal Steel SA said on Wednesday night it had not received any official notice of pending Solidarity strikes at several of its plants. Solidarity indicated earlier it had its ”strike ticket” and would down tools after a pay discrepancy had come to light. However Tami Didiza, Mittal’s general manager for corporate affairs, said the strike certificate was invalid.
The draw for the United States Open held as much drama for Roger Federer as most of his matches. He didn’t much care how it turned it out, who he played in the first round next Monday or who he might play in the rounds that follow. He was off in his own world on Wednesday, sleeping late, then practicing at the National Tennis Centre.