South African media group Primedia has acquired a 50% shareholding in Merchint — a company focused on developing proprietary software and hardware technology that can broadcast or narrowcast digital media into any environment where a consumer is at the point of making a purchase decision.
Danes are the happiest people in the world, according to a new survey published on Friday that measures health, wealth, education, sense of identity and the aesthetic quality of the landscape. The survey follows another earlier this month that said the tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu was the happiest country on Earth.
The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has officially kick-started the construction of its largest facility to date — the R2-billion new central terminal building project at the Johannesburg International airport. The project was officially announced by Acsa CEO Monhla Hlahla at a sod-turning ceremony on Friday.
Malizole Diko, a Member of Parliament who defected from General Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement last year to form the United Independent Front, (UIF) died in the early hours of Friday morning. Colleagues said that he had died after a short illness in Cape Town and had been extremely ill in recent weeks.
Zimbabwe business leaders want Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono to devalue the local dollar by almost 100% when he announces his monetary policy review statement next week. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, regarded as the voice of business in the country, also wants Gono to reintroduce a two-tier exchange rate system for exporters.
Dutch writer Fred de Vries’s new book Club Risiko looks at underground city cultures including Jo’burg’s. Here is a translated, edited excerpt.
The Catholic Church in South Africa is currently investigating at least 24 incidents of sexual abuse by priests — 12 cases in Cape Town alone. Some of these are "historical cases" and happened years ago. In most of them, the victims were children when the sexual abuse took place.
The front-runner for president, Jacob Zuma, is charismatic, though damaged by both the corruption trial of Schabir Shaik and his rape trial earlier this year. He was acquitted but in the course of his defence showed his commitment to non-sexism to be paper-thin.
A quiet battle is being waged in the African National Congress over the powers of South Africa’s nine provinces, with a sizeable body of opinion coming to the realisation that they represent a huge drain without much gain. Look at the figures. In the past seven years, provinces have underspent — yes, underspent — by R4,7-billion.
The time for procrastination is over for entities that provide credit to consumers, the National Credit Regulator (NCR) said on Thursday. Speaking at a presentation on Wednesday, Gabriel Davel, CEO of the NCR, explained that credit providers such as banks, retailers and pawn shops have until Friday July 28 2006 to register with the industry watchdog.
British music group EMI said on Thursday that it would not pursue its proposed takeover of United States rival Warner Music "for the time being". EMI said the decision followed a move by a European Union’s court to annul the European Commission’s approval of the music merger which was to create Sony BMG.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Thursday confirmed it had served diversified mining company Kumba Resources with a notice for strike action. "After consultation with our members we have opted to strike, because we are of the view that the company is not prepared to improve the conditions and wages of workers," NUM chief negotiator at Kumba Eddie Majadibodu said.
Insurgents detonated a car bomb and fired mortar rounds into a busy commercial district in the centre of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 31 civilians, a defence official said. At least 115 were wounded, he added. Television pictures showed a major fire and rescuers struggling to pull the dead and injured from the rubble in Karrada.
South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) rose by 7,5% year-on-year (y/y) in June from a 5,9% y/y increase in May, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. The PPI rose 3% on a monthly basis after May’s monthly rise of 0,9%. The PPI was expected to have risen to 6,3% y/y, a survey of economists by I-Net Bridge found, with forecasts ranging from 5,1% y/y to 6,5% y/y.
European aircraft manufacturer EADS issued a profits warning on Thursday following a crisis over Airbus production problems, but said that net profit in the first half had risen by 5%. The group also said that the results of a study into the overall implications of problems in A380 production might reveal further extra costs.
Real-time strategy games are usually the preserve of PC owners who have the mouse, keyboard and patience to effectively manipulate the miniature armies at their disposal. But <i>Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2</i> bucks the trend by releasing on the Xbox 360, complete with high-definition support.
Diplomats hailed the "toilet diplomacy" of an impromptu chat in the washroom between the foreign ministers of feuding neighbours China and Japan at security talks in Kuala Lumpur. The two regional powers, whose relations are strained by historical enmities and territorial disputes, have held only a handful of high-level meetings in recent times.
This first-person shoot-’em-up suffered from one of the most protracted development periods in videogame history, but was keenly anticipated. Sadly, although <i>Prey</i> stands out from the first-person shooter crowd, it fails to satisfy. It contains interesting ideas — a native American sub-plot that sees you shooting wraiths with arrows when you die.
All 16 people including two Dutch soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, a military coalition spokesperson announced on Thursday. The civilian MI8 helicopter crashed into mountains for unknown reasons near south-eastern Paktia province on Wednesday.
South African Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica said on Wednesday that the findings made by a Thabazimbi magistrate regarding the mine accident that occurred at the Northam Platinum mine on September 20 2004 sent a clear message that unsafe or unhealthy mine practices will not be tolerated.
Weak healthcare systems and a shortage of healthcare workers are undermining efforts to deliver antiretroviral drugs to Africa.
The ad hoc committee on the appointment of the auditor general (AG) has recommended that Shauket Fakie’s current deputy, Terrence Mncedisi Nombembe, should replace him when he retires on November 30. The African National Congress-led committee was reported to have made the recommendation in the announcements, tablings and committee reports.
Trade union Solidarity on Wednesday served diversified mining company Kumba Resources with a 48-hour strike notice that Solidarity members will come out on strike from midnight on Sunday. The strike action will be conducted jointly with the National Union of Mineworkers, the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa and the Building, Allied, Mining and Construction Workers’ Union.
Harry Potter’s magic has failed to work on Japanese tax authorities, who accuse the translator of the blockbuster books on the boy wizard of failing to declare millions of dollars in income. Yuko Matsuoka (62) who has translated the books into Japanese since 1999, declared her income in Switzerland, saying she was a Swiss resident.
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday welcomed a donation of â,¬30-million euros from the European Commission (EC) for its food-assistance projects in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. The donation forms part of the EC’s â,¬105-million donation to the WFP for its operations worldwide in 2006.
Police in France said on Tuesday they had thwarted an attempt by a group of marijuana smokers to roll the world’s longest joint by seizing a work-in-progress measuring 80cm in length. "At some point, these young people had wanted to craft a joint of 1,12m to beat the world record in the discipline and get it officially registered," said a police officer in eastern France.
We look briefly at new fiction by a young Nigerian, a Mozambican author, an Indian-born woman living in South Africa and several others.
In an extract from <i>Real Simple</i> magazine, we look at innovative ways to make use of ordinary household items.
United States internet search engine Yahoo and software security giant Symantec Corporation launched a joint service on Tuesday to protect people online from hackers, viruses, spyware and spam. Norton internet security provided by Yahoo was billed by the companies as an all-in-one security service that blocked intruders, identity thieves and malicious software.