He’s been branded a corporate bully and hailed as technological visionary, but Microsoft’s plans for a record pay-out to shareholders has thrown the spotlight on to Bill Gates, the ultra-generous philanthropist. Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a plan to deliver an estimated -billion to its shareholders over the next four years.
Relatives and Muslim leaders appealed to Iraqi militants on Thursday to release three Kenyan truck drivers they took hostage, saying the men are good Muslims who went to Iraq to earn a living for their families. A militant group calling itself The Holders of the Black Banners announced on Wednesday it has taken the men hostage.
Her vast array of shoes became a symbol of her greed and untold wealth. Now, it seems, the boot is on the other foot. A new film about the life, loves and spending habits of Imelda Marcos opened to packed houses in Manila on Wednesday, despite the protests of its subject.
A court on Friday convicted 52 members of a baby-trafficking gang that smuggled 118 infants for sale in southern China, sentencing the ringleaders to death or life in prison. The case included a highly publicised incident in March in which 28 baby girls were found hidden in nylon tote bags aboard a long-distance bus.
Trade unions at Telkom plan to tackle ”shareholder fundamentalism” at the communications monopoly that plans to lay off thousands of workers after record profits. The mooted retrenchments form part of Telkom’s strategy to reduce staff costs as a percentage of revenue to 17% from 22,6%.
In a bid to avoid the crackdown on freedom of speech in their country, Zimbabwean journalists, lawyers and human rights activists have come up with an innovative plan to use the internet to get daily news to Zimbabweans. They have created <i>Zimonline</i> — a website registered in South Africa and thus beyond the clutches of the Zimbabwean government and its restrictive media laws.
South African steel producer Iscor on Thursday confirmed that it has reached an agreement on a final wage offer with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and United Association of South Africa. The company said it is still awaiting a response from the Solidarity trade union.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has instructed police to ”leave no stone unturned” in tracking down the killers of kidnapped student Leigh Matthews, whose naked body was found dumped in a field south of Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The death toll from Nepal’s annual monsoon flooding rose to 102 after searchers found nearly two dozen bodies in the country’s south, officials said on Thursday. Meanwhile, the death toll from China’s summer rains and floods rose to almost 400 and torrential monsoon rains lashed eastern India on Thursday, triggering more flooding.
Former police commissioner Johan van der Merwe has rejected allegations by former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock that he is protecting police generals of the apartheid era, it was reported on Thursday. De Kock testified in the amnesty rehearing of Gideon Nieuwoudt and two others regarding the death of the Motherwell Four.