Angola’s Parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution asking the government of President Eduardo dos Santos for rapid measures to combat the outbreak of the deadly Ebola-like Marburg virus, which has now killed 159 people. It was the first parliamentary move in Angola to fight the untreatable haemorrhagic fever.
China’s justice system is being haunted by a ”murdered” woman who has turned up alive and well 11 years after police tortured her husband into confessing to her supposed killing. The sudden reappearance of Zhang Zaiyu has embarrassed law-enforcement authorities and strengthened calls for penal reform.
The drama that has long beset the Onassis dynasty has taken another turn after reports that Athina Roussel, the family’s sole surviving member, is determined to fight the old men who guard her grandfather’s fortune in Athens. Athina, who is 20, came into a fortune conservatively estimated at £1-billion (R11,54-billion) last year.
It is a five-hour journey through beautiful scenery in the northern foothills of the Himalayas. But when 20 passengers on Thursday morning board two coaches under the snow-capped peaks in Srinagar, India’s state capital in Jammu, and Kashmir, they will be embarking on the world’s most dangerous bus trip.
”How do we get to the end of that queue over there?” asked Patrizia Laudenzi, shielding her eyes with one hand as she peered down the Tiber. ”You’re at the end of the queue, Signora,” the police officer replied. Laudenzi gave him one of those you’re-winding-me-up-aren’t-you kind of smiles. Until she realised he wasn’t.
Three gold mines operated by world number two gold-miner AngloGold Ashanti face the prospect of flooding, if rival DRDGold doesn’t pick up the tab for the pumping of underground water from its Hartebeesfontein and Buffelfontein gold mines, which are currently shut down and in the process of being liquidated.
<b>CD OF THE WEEK:</b> Emile Minnie’s second album offers songwriting that manages to be contemplative without falling into the rut of rather pretentious songs about life and love that so many "serious" Afrikaans singers seem to prefer, writes Riaan Wolmarans.
The doors of learning creaked open with some difficulty as schools re-opened last month. While provincial heads insist the start of the school year went well, reports from around the country told a different story. Work on the ground suggested illegal exclusions, as well as classroom conditions that do not promote learning, still affected thousands of children.
Our newspapers are abuzz with stories of aspirant higher education students being excluded. Institutions are full and student financial aid can only stretch so far. Across the world, claims are made that distance education can vastly increase access to higher education, especially for marginalised groups. Could this be a solution to South Africa’s problem?
"Teacher education is in crisis, both in terms of quality and in terms of quantity. The current measures to address the crisis are not adequate, because they are solutions that are not attuned to our context." Tessa Welch describes an alternative model for teacher-training that could solve a lot of education problems.