By Kitsepile Nyathi – Harare — A fresh turf war has emerged between Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai after the veteran ruler reversed a bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (BIPPA) signed by his former rival. Mr Tsvangirai who joined President Mugabe in a unity government in February last year ending a long and bitter political struggle signed the BIPPA during a visit to Seoul recently where he was also given an honorary degree by a Korean university. The Koreans had expressed a strong desire to participate in Zimbabwe’s reconstruction and the agreement would have ensured... Continue Reading
By Shout-Africa – Uganda has backtracked on an earlier decision not to invite Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir to the African Union summit. “President Bashir of Sudan was actually invited for the AU summit scheduled to take place in Kampala from the 19-29 July 2010,” read a statement from Uganda’s ministry of Foreign Affairs that appeared in the press Tuesday. Sam Kutesa, the Ugandan foreign minister, told RFI that the government was misquoted. “We invited Sudan, we invited all African countries,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. But the government was quoted last week saying that President Bashir was not... Continue Reading
BY NOVELL ZWANGENDABA – JOHANNESBURG – A new study shows that South Africa’s international reputation declined significantly between December 2009 and June 2010. Perceptions of SA immigrants living in the UK and the SA government took a knock along with intentions to visit the country in future. Confidence in the ability of the country to host the World Cup is also low. Only 14% of the public in the United Kingdom agree that South Africa has a good-overall reputation, relative to other developing countries. This is according to a survey by South African marketing research consultancy Acentric, conducted between the... Continue Reading
By JO-MARÉ DUDDY – NAMIBIA – Lean times will continue through the winter with food price analysts expecting more expensive meat, maize meal, fruit and vegetables. Releasing the latest First Capital Food Price Index, economist Martin Mwinga said the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the north-east, as well as the outbreak of Rift Valley fever in the Hardap and Karas regions, “will put upward pressure on meat prices over the coming months”. He also expects fruit and vegetables to become more expensive, “partly due to increased demand during the World Cup”. Also driving fruit and vegetable prices will be... Continue Reading
By Shout-Africa – World Blood Donor Day is an event officially designated by the World Health Assembly that is celebrated annually by the global community. On this day, we recognize and thank the millions of people around the world who donate their blood on a voluntary, altruistic unpaid basis to help save the lives and improve the health of others. The day will encourage more people to become voluntary blood donors and will underline the importance of regular donation to prevent blood shortages. It will also demonstrate a renewed commitment by policy makers and health professionals to work towards making... Continue Reading
