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McDonald’s closes down in Bolivia

With over 31,000 restaurants serving 58 million people throughout the world every day, McDonald’s pretty much wrote the book on how a corporation can conquer the world. But despite its global domination as a cheap and easy burger joint, the fast-food monolith proved no match against the people of Bolivia and its cultural standards of

Obama hopes for big bucks from African visit

The White House has insisted President Barack Obama’s looming trip to Africa is long overdue and it will be a great ‘bang for the buck’. The White House was, on Friday pushing back at concerns over the journey’s cost. Ben Rhodes, a top foreign policy aide to Obama, admitted that the president, despite his Kenyan

‘American-style Stasi methods’

Germans are expressing outrage as details of a US internet spy program – revealed by a former CIA employee-turned-whistleblower – are prompting comparisons with that of former communist East Germany’s Ministry for State Security. Unfortunately for Obama’s upcoming trip to Berlin, it was revealed that Germany ranks as the most-spied-on EU country by the US,

‘Intersex’ included on Australia’s new gender guidelines

The Australian government has announced new guidelines on gender recognition which state that individuals should be given the option of selecting “male”, “female” or “intersex” on their personal documents. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the new guidelines, which come into operation from July 1, will make it simpler for people to establish or change their

New adoption trend: Bongani speaks Finnish and has an iPad

The adoption of South African children by Finnish couples is steadily growing, South Africa’s ambassador to Finland Sello Moloto said on Friday. In 2011, Finland’s statistics showed that most children adopted from abroad were born in South Africa, he said in Helsinki. “It’s great. They are given a new life in Finland,” said Moloto. “And

Clerics pray for Mandela in Pretoria

Several clerics arrived at the Pretoria hospital on Friday where former president Nelson Mandela is recuperating. After 11am, Bishop Abraham Sibiya, a member of the International Bishops’ Conference, led a group of bishops to the hospital. “We have come to respond to the call of President [Jacob] Zuma that we must uplift Tata Mandela in

TAU SA concerned about trade union threats of ‘land transfer’ in South Africa

TAU SA is highly upset about trade unions’ proposed public actions to expedite land transfer. “The country is still licking its wounds from the labor unrest in the mining industry, which led to the Rand experiencing near-record lows. Now there are threats of labor unrest in the agricultural sector,” said TAU SA’s General Manager, Mr

Sergio Garcia still heckled over ‘racist’ fried chicken remark

Sergio Garcia struggled with hecklers and poor shotmaking on Thursday at the US Open, opening with a three-over par 73 and being chided by some spectators over a racism row involving Tiger Woods. After Garcia’s comment last month that he would serve Woods “fried chicken” should they dine together, considered an insult by African-Americans, the

The freedom to be racist – is banning right-wing groups democratic?

by Erik Bleich On June 5, 18-year-old anti-fascist activist Clement Meric was walking with his friends in Paris when he encountered a group of far-right militants and a fight broke out. At the end of the skirmish, Meric lay on the ground. He was hit twice in the head, declared brain-dead at the hospital and

Councillor calls for black Italian minister ‘to be raped’

A councillor belonging to Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party called Thursday for the country’s first black minister to be raped, sparking an outcry and her expulsion from the party. “Won’t someone rape her, just to make her understand what victims of this terrible crime feel? For shame!” Dolores Valandro, a councillor in Padua in Northern

Faecal wars: ANC threatens to make Cape Town ungovernable

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has threatened to bring Cape Town to a standstill in what it refers to as a bid to get the ear of Premier Helen Zille so the Democratic Alliance (DA) can deliver “better services” to poor people in the province. In what could be seen as

Judge orders ANC municipality to restore Pretoria street names at cost of R2,6m

It was in the interests of justice for finality to be reached in the Tshwane street name saga, a High Court in Pretoria judge said on Thursday. Judge Bill Prinsloo dismissed the Tshwane Municipality’s application for leave to appeal an interim order, granted in April, interdicting the city from removing old street names and ordering

South African economy ‘may have turned the corner after stagnation’

BANKSERVAFRICA’s Economic Transaction Index (Beti) showed encouraging signs of the economy clawing back in May after three quarters of stagnation, the electronic payment transaction company said on Thursday. While the Beti figures for May were not as strong as those for April, they still revealed growth of 2.9% year on year. BankservAfrica’s regulated products CEO

Ann Coulter: Republican Party ‘deserves to die’ if it backs immigration reform

The GOP (Republican Party) deserves to die if it backs immigration reform, allowing more Latinos to become citizens, right wing pundit Ann Coulter says in a new column, If the GOP is stupid, it deserves to die. The article is the latest in a series since President Barack Obama’s November reelection in which Coulter paints