United States President George Bush’s hopes for making progress with his Iraq strategy suffered a double blow when there was an upsurge in violence over the weekend. Twenty-three Iraqi army recruits were killed on Sunday the day after a truck bomb killed 150 people in Armili.
A Pakistani Special Forces commander was killed after coming under heavy fire from militants holed up inside the Red Mosque in Islamabad early on Sunday. Islamist rebels shot Lieutenant Colonel Haroon Islam and another soldier as they laid bombs along the perimeter wall of the besieged mosque at 1.30am.
About 260 000 workers in the metal and engineering sector are due to launch a strike on Monday over a wage dispute, unions said on Sunday. The open-ended strike will affect more than 9 000 firms, including Bell Equipment and the Scaw Metals Group.
Give me strength. The Republicans want another actor to run for office. Will we never learn? We’ve already had Reagan, the star of Bedtime for Bonzo. We’ve now got Arnold, the star of Junior and Kindergarten Cop. And this time the guy running for the top spot is 65-year-old actor-politician Fred Thompson.
While the developed world has not yet lived up to its commitment to give 1% of its GDP to the developing South, aid flows have increased since 2000, when the pledge was renewed at the <i>United Nations Millennium Summit. A Southern Africa Trust policy brief, Aid Effectiveness: Trends and Impacts of Shifting Financial Flows to Civil Society Organisations in Southern Africa</i>.
When the Confederation of Indian Industry decided to set up an India Business Forum (IBF) here last March, they were pleasantly surprised to discover that as many as 36 Indian companies have resident offices in South Africa. Surprised because, since 1948, India had enforced economic sanctions against the apartheid regime with such vigour that a flourishing trade in commodities like jute and tea had come to a grinding halt.
Recently, I got an email complaining about an article I’d written. It happens. The angry tone was nothing if not consistent until very near the end. One question. After all that rage, why did she sign off with her first name and two kisses? This week I received an email from a PR woman with whom I had not previously corresponded, let alone met. It started with "Hi Stu" and ended with "warm regards". The "warm" part especially threw me.
40 years ago the Hyundai Motor Corporation created its first car — the Pony — and it was a dismal failure. The few cars that were shipped to Nigeria (and a handful of other countries) experienced a host of problems, which included the vinyl peeling off the roof as a result of the harsh African sun.
Getting into the headquarters of JHC, the Johannesburg Housing Company, is like breaking into Fort Knox, with access control devices on myriad doors. In fact, as we pass through the last door, I realise it actually is Fort Knox — at least according to its name plate. The man at the centre of this African fort is Taffy Adler, JHC’s chief executive. And JHC’s objective could not be more dissimilar to its office’s American namesake.
With south/south trade strategically growing in importance, India is shaping into one of South Africa’s most important trading partners. Already we have witnessed the successful entry into South Africa of Indian conglomerates such as the Tata group and Ranbaxy, while South African companies seem set to make their mark in India.