Post Office privatisation seems a trivial policy to bring a government crashing down, but Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi has staked his political life on plans to split up and sell off Japan Post. After what he called the ”forces of resistance” voted down the proposal, he called a snap election.
Innovative Cape Town research has provided valuable insights into why poor, unemployed people don’t turn to entrepreneurship — and another survey will be under way later this year to try to untangle this little-understood part of the economy.
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South African winger Breyton Paulse was given a three-week suspension on Sunday after being found guilty of kicking Australian prop Al Baxter during the Springboks’ 22-19 Tri-Nations rugby win over Australia on Saturday. The incident happened in the 77th minute, leaving Baxter with an abrasion to his face.
Prospects of a respite are dim for Zimbabweans as the southern African country’s currency continues to tumble and runaway inflation sends prices of basic goods soaring. The council says the food basket for a family of six has increased by more than 200% since January.
The city of Johannesburg has given boom gates in the city’s suburban areas a nod, SABC news said on Saturday. The Johannesburg news agency reported that over eighty boom gates in and around the city have been approved and will be advertised in the government gazette by the end of this month.
Three hundred graduates of Zimbabwe’s controversial youth training camps have been hired to work with police in Harare to help curb ”illegal businesses” in the wake of the government’s clean-up campaign. More than 18 000 youths have graduated from the National Youth Service programme, introduced in 2001.
It is the wedding season in Gaza. Every day last week the streets were jammed by wedding convoys, up to 20 a day. It is in stark contrast to the intifada years of endless funeral processions. Predictions of a bloodbath in Gaza during the Israeli disengagement have not come true.
The leader of Côte d’Ivoire rebels said he had held ”fruitful” discussions in the South African capital, Pretoria, on Saturday with President Thabo Mbeki, who sought to resolve a crisis of confidence over his role as mediator in the divided country’s conflict.