China has published shocking statistics on the trafficking of women and children within its borders, with police freeing 42 215 victims during the two years from 2001, state press reported on Tuesday. Over the same period, more than 22 000 suspects were arrested as police cracked 20 360 cases involving kidnapped women and children.
The fate of 134 people missing from a burnt-out ferry in the Philippines remained a mystery on Tuesday after rescuers found no bodies or survivors inside its half-submerged hulk, the coast guard said. President Gloria Arroyo continued to dismiss claims that Muslim rebels the Abu Sayyaf had planted a bomb on the vessel.
Internet giant Yahoo is adopting a new system for indexing web pages that will charge businesses to include material currently unlisted in its online search engine, marking the first volley in a duel with its former ally Google.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>The Western Cape leader of the Freedom Front Plus, Dr Corne Mulder, faces a criminal investigation after he was allegedly seen removing Democratic Alliance posters at the weekend. However, Mulder, who is also the brother of FF+ leader Pieter Mulder, on Tuesday angrily denied a DA claim that he broke the law.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) forged to its highest level since May 2002 on Tuesday, spurred by offshore demand for resources stocks and general positive sentiment. Strength was most pronounced at the top end of the market, with advancers outnumbering decliners on the Top 40 index by almost four to one.
A recent international study conducted in South Africa confirms that social pensions play a significant role in alleviating poverty. The pension system is a firmly entrenched feature of South Africa’s social welfare framework. The country has an unemployment rate of more than 40%, making a conventional, contributory pension scheme unworkable.
A project to establish an initiation village for urban Xhosa was launched by the Western Cape provincial government on the Cape Flats on Tuesday. The initiative, the first in the country, seeks to provide space for what is essentially a rural custom in a city setting.
Online banking reached the one million mark in South Africa for the first time at the end of 2003. According to a new research report, <i>Online Banking in South Africa 2004</i>, the number of online bank accounts in South Africa grew by 28% last year, despite the online security scare that hit internet banking during 2003.
Outsourcing is set to create many job opportunities in South Africa over the next few years, but for this to materialise the government should help set up a public private partnership outsourcing company, eQuals Group specialised business director Stuart Herd said in a statement on Tuesday.
Nigeria said on Monday that it was looking for ways to ”decongest” the death row sections of its jails, where 458 prisoners are awaiting execution, some of them for more than 20 years.