Children who develop diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa are dying within a year for want of insulin, a drug which keeps hundreds of thousands of young people well in the UK. Supplies of the drug and the syringes are erratic in many places in Africa and some families walk 400km to get the insulin their child needs.

California will witness the conclusion of one unpredictable election campaign on Monday — as another one gets under way. While Arnold Schwarzenegger is installed as governor in the state capital, Sacramento, campaigning for the other big prize California has to offer — the Oscars — has started in earnest, with pundits tipping epic dramas as likely winners.

The Shoprite strike, said one analyst, had something for everyone. Central to it was the position of casual workers, and demands for a guaranteed number of hours so as to create some certainty around rates of pay and the realignment of casual wage rates. But the strike also marked the first real challenge by workers to a sectoral wage determination drafted by the Department of Labour.

There has been much hustle and bustle around the appointment of South Africa’s second network operator (SNO). The process itself has, to say the least, been fraught with delays and uncertainty. Trevor van de Ven wonders what effect the SNO will have on the ICT industry, business and consumers.