If the special dividends that Mutual & Federal has paid out in the past five years are anything to go by, it is not difficult — as some analysts point out — to understand why London-listed South African financial services giant Old Mutual wants all of the short-term insurer.
The death toll from flooding across South Asia that has left more than 42-million people stranded or homeless rose to 925 on Monday as India battled to get relief to its flood-hit areas and two-thirds of Bangladesh was submerged. Although flood waters were receding in northeastern India, the situation was worsening in parts of Bangladesh.
What a week. That grand figure, Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela, celebrated his 86th birthday.
What do Shrek, Spider-Man, Michael Moore and Harry Potter have in common? They have all produced -million movie hits this summer. Moore’s condemnation of United States President George Bush’s actions regarding the September 11 attacks in the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 has earned ,35-million since opening in late June.
Even the hostess had her doubts when John Kerry came calling on Sunday, settling in at the cream-coloured home with the striped lawn furniture and welcoming the neighbours for a friendly chat. By rights, this should be Kerry’s breakthrough week, as he makes his way across the United States to Boston and the Democratic convention, where he is to be anointed as the party’s candidate on Thursday.
The Israeli government plans to offer about 7 500 Jewish settlers it wants to evacuate from the Gaza Strip a choice of four compensation options, Ha’aretz daily reported on Monday. The Israeli Justice Ministry believes the draft legislation laying out the four options will be submitted to the Cabinet in the autumn.
Attackers shot and killed a senior Interior Ministry official and two of his bodyguards in a drive-by shooting at the official’s Baghdad home on Monday morning, according to the Interior Ministry. Insurgents have been increasingly targeting officials they accuse of collaborating with United States forces in Iraq.
Sudan on Monday rejected the use of the term genocide to describe events in its eastern Darfur region in a resolution by the United States Congress. ”What is happening in Darfur is not genocide. It is a humanitarian crisis provoked by fighting which is not our fault,” Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said.
Johannesburg police believe they are making good progress in the investigation into the kidnap and murder of student Leigh Matthews, a spokesperson said on Monday. Matthews’s naked body was found in the veld at Walkerville Manor, south of Johannesburg, last Wednesday.
A European Union body will donate about R4,2-billion to the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) to help combat HIV/Aids, the council said on Monday. ”This is the initial amount. Out of those [donated] amounts, we will conduct trials and others things,” MRC spokesperson Julian Jacobs said.