An Australian rugby enthusiast on Friday vowed to fight legal action from McDonald’s objecting to his team having the word ”McBrat” emblazoned on their uniforms. Lawyer Malcolm McBratney said he sponsored the Brisbane Irish rugby union team, which adopted the ”McBrat” tag because they could not fit his full surname on the back of their shorts.
Last weekend’s satellite television weekend was, to put it mildly, a disgrace. MultiChoice, the South African satellite signal distributor of satellite television programmes, is preparing for the launch of another of DStv’s famous ”bouquets”. In order to prepare the older decoders of many of MultiChoice’s existing customers, certain remote electronic re-jigging was necessary.
Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal boosted his fortune faster than anyone in the world over the past year to become the third richest person in the world, Forbes Magazine said on Thursday. London-based Mittal, who built one of the world’s biggest steel empires, has a net worth of -billion, trailing only Microsoft chief Bill Gates (,5-billion).
Botswana has started providing anti-retroviral drugs to soldiers in an effort to mitigate the impact of HIV/Aids on its armed forces. The programme, described as "a key watershed in safeguarding the security of the nation", is expected to target an estimated 5 000 infected soldiers and their dependents.
African ICT market analysts BMI-TechKnowledge has released the results from their latest research, entitled Top 350 Telecoms Spenders. The report shows that close to 50% of the 350 indicated they would consider switching some of their telecoms business to the second national operator should the service offerings be competitive.
It was quite a week for Justin Nurse. The 27-year-old ”David” and his company, Laugh It Off, appeared in the Constitutional Court.
The Commission for Africa on Friday called for rich countries to dismantle barriers against African goods, particularly in agriculture, and for trade-distorting agricultural subsidies to be abolished. The commission also said in its report that the developed world must support the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
An agreement was reached between the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Musina local municipality in the Pretoria High Court on Friday for Cosatu to increase the number of picketers on the Zimbabwe border to 500. The other limitations imposed by the municipality still stand, the court ruled.
The first constitutional challenge to new health laws left dispensing doctors and the Department of Health each notching up a partial victory on Friday. The Constitutional Court said regulations that force doctors to get licences to dispense drugs are not unconstitutional, but sections that tried to limit the number of pharmacies in an area were declared ultra vires and invalid.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was weaker just before noon on Friday due to selling in resources heavyweights BHP Billiton and Anglo American out of London. Lack of interest from local players contributed to the market’s weakness, dealers said. By 11.52am, the all-share index shed 0,54%.