A ”black box” to assist motorists involved in accidents was unveiled in Johannesburg on Friday. The accident recorder kit is assembled and packaged by the workers of two NGOs. It contains first-aid accessories, two emergency blankets, gloves and a yellow ”light stick”.
Satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys has launched a biting attack on President Thabo Mbeki’s stand on Aids and nutrition. ”Most of the black people who have died of Aids in South Africa were too poor to even phone for help, let alone pizza delivery,” Uys said in a statement on Friday.
Israel stepped up security measures on Friday ahead of the Jewish Passover festival, sealing off the Palestinian territories, as an opinion poll shows that most settlers will not oppose the Gaza pull-out. The entire West Bank was closed off until Sunday in a bid to avert the threat of attacks during Israel’s most popular holiday.
Even for his fellow lawyers, a Dutch law-school graduate may have gone a bit too far in expressing a desire to strike it rich. Reinder Eekhof recently wrote in an e-mail that he had ”finally finished this stupid education”, and was ”now looking for someone crazy enough to dump a suitcase full of money in my lap every month”.
Music lovers in North Carolina are due for a strange treat next month. They will hear two piano virtuosi in concert … but both musicians are long dead. The music will be played on a grand piano that has been specially programmed to give a note-perfect, live rendition of ancient made by Alfred Cortot in 1928 and Glenn Gould in 1962.
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang again stressed the importance of nutrition in regard to HIV/Aids at a Pietermaritzburg gathering on Friday of organisations dealing with the pandemic. The minister said there is scientific proof that lemon, olive oil and garlic can work wonders for people with Aids symptoms.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille took the stand on Friday during the civil case against her in the Johannesburg High Court. Three women who took part in a clinical Aids trial are suing De Lille and author Charlene Smith for revealing their identities and HIV-positive status in De Lille’s biography.
Limpopo economic development, environment and tourism minister Collins Chabane says small business is to receive special attention in his province. In a report by the government news agency, BuaNews, on Friday, he is quoted as telling the provincial legislature that small businesses has a high potential for job creation.
The death toll from an outbreak of the Marburg virus in Angola has climbed to 244, authorities said. The health ministry and World Health Organisation said in a joint statement on Thursday that the number of fatalities rose by five over the previous 24 hours. Authorities said they recorded no new cases from Wednesday to Thursday.
The Otago Highlanders hit the Wellington Hurricanes with an early bluster to score two tries within 15 minutes and then hung on for a 26-16 win, which improves their chances of making the Super 12 play-offs. The Hurricanes, 14-6 down at half-time, got within reach before a late drop goal by Nick Evans put the result beyond doubt.