By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – Gay soccer players at the World Cup in Brazil should declare their sexuality to help make gays and lesbians accepted around the world, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said on Monday. “I encourage players, sports people to declare their sexual orientation without fear,” she told reporters in Geneva. … Read more
By Miles Downard * AMG is the Mercedes-equivalent of the Hawks; a special ops unit with one goal – to transform normal Merc’s from the mundane into fire breathing, power hungry monsters that know no bounds in the quest for ultimate performance. AMG’s mantra has always been big capacity, naturally aspirated V8’s. And my, what … Read more
It’s a safe bet that politicians are not exactly the most respected South Africans right now. You’ve really got to scratch to find any who would rank higher than used car salesmen in the public’s perception. Even my former colleague from the RDM, Helen Zille, blotted her copybook through “the kiss” and quickie divorce from … Read more
By Alec Hogg The game-changing impact of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale oil and gas is becoming increasingly evident in the nation where the innovation was first implemented. The well documented success of fracking in the US is likely to trigger greater focus on South Africa’s shale gas reserves which, despite continuous paper-based downgrades, remain … Read more
By Miles Downard * The 24 Hours of Le Mans ended yesterday, being Sunday 15 June, and if you only happened to see the result you might think it was much the same as last year; Audi one-two and all. However delving into the details shows that things weren’t quite so easy in 2014. Toyota … Read more
Telkom has had a very rough time of it over the years. When the company first listed, it looked like a no-brainer cash cow, but some mismanagement and unwise investment led to the stock falling out of favour. Over the last two years or so, Telkom’s share price has started to march back up the … Read more
South Africa’s credit honeymoon ended this evening when the world’s leading agency, S&P, announced an across the board lowering of the country’s credit ratings. The three major ratings agencies have for some time been warning economic policy makers to get the house in order or suffer the consequences. This evening’s ratings downgrade was widely anticipated. … Read more
With the FIFA World Cup in full swing again, Brazilian hotels and guest houses are cashing in on the surge in visitors. The South American country’s hospitality sector learnt a great deal from the South African experience of four years back where considerable losses were incurred after heavy investments by hoteliers and guest house owners. … Read more
I met Gary Shayne, a CA, and Cris Dillon, a chemical engineer, of private equity firm Coast-2-Coast at the Berkshire Hathaway AGM in 2011. They were enthusiastic about building a healthcare business called Ascendis that made its debut on the JSE late last year. The duo, who model themselves on Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, … Read more
Every now and then it is heartwarming to find something online that puts a smile on your face, and makes you chuckle. This video is one of those happy online sensations. And when you watch it, you’ll see why. Richard Dunn made the most of getting stuck at LAX overnight when he decided to keep … Read more