Being rich is hard. Especially when it comes to road trips. It’s always an issue of “The Ferrari’s too small”, or “I wish my mansion had wheels”. Enter, the Elemment Palazzo. This bad boy not only brings an element of average American retiree to your life, it also has 40” TVs, a rainfall shower and a fireplace in it.
It promises to be one of the largest strikes since the resurgence of the catastrophic violence two years ago, and will touch virtually every industry of the deeply troubled state. At least half of the four million-strong workforce is expected to partake as parliamentarians vote on a package of austerity measures demanded by international lenders.
The latest in a series of phenomenally creative, Hollywood movie style smuggling stories involves false-bottomed cars, parking meters and a total of 16 tunnels. Of course no one was caught in the act, but if you guessed that the tunnels were supposed to be filled with drugs and some very naughty Mexicans, you’d be correct.
Just before lunchtime, a rumour began to do the rounds, courtesy of Sky News, that credit ratings agency Fitch was going to bring more bad news for Britain’s banks. A credit rating downgrade of major banks was possible later in the day. Sky changed their tune and withdrew the statement on TV, but the blog post remained, and now the downgrade has happened.
After having recently bought Fosters, fresh rumours surfaced yesterday that SABMiller might itself face a takeover from Anheuser-Busch InBev, the biggest brewer in the world. SAB shares soared 7% to their highest gain in almost three years as a result.
You may recall a previous article on the three-times widowed, fantastically wealthy Duchess of Alba’s proposed remarriage to Alfonso Diez, a man 24 years her junior. I’m pretty sure the last thing anyone (especially her) wanted popping up was a topless photo of that 85-year-old struck match, on the cover of a magazine. Lawsuit, here we come. [No pics. Naughty.]
The South African media giant, Naspers, has bought the Russian version of Gumtree: Slando, for an undisclosed amount. The original founders of Gumtree, Michael Pennington and Simon Crookall, confirmed the deal overnight. The site has 11 million users, and has sold items including Stalin’s clothing, a slew of diamonds, a MIG 21 aircraft and one whole oil refinery.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has today told a small news conference that China has agreed to invest approximately R19 billion in investment projects around South Africa. He’s been on a three-day visit to China, and has avoided all mention of the constant South African headache that is deciding whether the Dalai Lama should get a visa or not.
With a name like Doña Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba, one might excuse her for looking like a struck match. Clearly someone does, seeing as the twice-widowed aristocrat is getting remarried to Alfonso Diez, a man 24 years her junior. The news was announced after she bequeathed every penny she owns, to her children.
China’s time is now. We’ve all been saying it for ages, but their time really is now. A report from Bloomberg doesn’t beat around the bush: “China is willing to buy bonds from nations involved in the sovereign debt crisis.” They already own millions of hectares of land right here in Africa, but now they want to invest.
European stocks have bounced back slightly (well, leveled, more than anything) on news that China and Italy are in discussions about “significant” purchases of Italian bonds and investments in strategic companies. Greece will probably get that next round of funding, but Europe still needs to approve it. Here are some interesting numbers if Greece does go bang.
Reports coming out of the East and Europe this morning paint a dismal picture for Greece. The Euro had already slipped to a 10 year low against the Yen and a six month low against the dollar in overnight trading. Bloomberg thinks Germany might give up on Greece because a Greek default is probably inevitable.
At the end of last week, parliament confirmed that the embattled public works department had spent approximately R183 million since May 2009, and that R46 million had been dropped on exclusive residences in this year alone. It’s therefore no surprise that the Hawks are struggling to finance their investigations.
A Human Rights Watch report has discovered that at least two wine farms in South Africa are still using the illegal ‘dop system’ as part-payment for farm workers. The practice was prohibited in 1928, and its poisonous legacy is rooted deep in the social fabric of farm-worker communities in the Cape.
European banks tumbled for the third day in a row, led by Lloyds Banking Group and Commerzbank AG, on concerns that firms will struggle to fund themselves and increase earnings as the region’s sovereign debt crisis strangles economic growth. Basically, it’s a case of just about everything taking on for the team.
Sure, why not. Tiny South Pacific island nation Niue will be accepting coins minted with the faces of Star Wars characters as legal tender, because if you’re a tiny South Pacific island nation there’s really only so much you can do to keep things exciting.
Yesterday, 2oceansVibe reported that clothing retailer, Abercrombie and Fitch, had decided it no longer wanted its clothing to be associated with members of The Jersey Shore cast, especially Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino. Coincidentally, the very next day of trading after the announcement, Abercrombie shares shed nearly 10 percent at one stage.
The International Monetary Fund has another scandal to deal with, although this time it’s a financial one. A French court has today ordered an investigation into the new IMF head, Christine Lagarde, and her role in a much-criticised $400 million arbitration deal in favour of a controversial tycoon. It concerns the mishandled sale of sportswear maker, Adidas, in the 1990’s.
Julius Malema has today denied that he is building a R16 million home in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Sandown. Rather, he chose to insist, “Instead of being rich, I remain poor but credit worthy.” He declined to give details of his financial interests, saying he was not a public figure, but this may yet backfire on him.
“Italy Too Big to Bail Out as Crisis Enters ‘New Phase’.” That was the headline I read over at Bloomberg earlier. Don’t get me wrong, I know Italy is facing serious problems, but when will they actually get rid of the bungling “bunga bunga” Berlusconi? Today the country has been auctioning an estimated €3 – €5 billion in fixed-rate bonds.
The trouble started when Richard Moore started sending unwelcome gifts and chocolates to Ashley Alford, demanding “sucky-sucky” in return. But Ashley never gave her manager any sucky-sucky. That’s when our boy took things to the next level by sneaking up on Ashley, holding her by her ponytail, and whacking her on the head with his […]
It is important that you watch videos like this, because it will give you ideas for when you win one of the overseas lotteries. Donald Trump has just bought himself a new Boeing 757 Private Jet for $100 Million. So with some of the big overseas lottery jackpots (they go up to $250 Million) you […]
Cisco have just come out with their annual Visual Networking Index, which is a pretty reliable source of internet traffic reporting. Global traffic will quadruple, by 2015, with Asia’s traffic generation overtaking North America. Which is cool, but less cool than the stuff they say about traffic in South Africa, which is after the jump.
It has been confirmed that the Hawks and the South African Revenue Services have raided the home of the controversial Durban tycoon Sbu Mpisane and his wife Shaun on Wednesday morning. You’ll know the guy that I’m speaking about. The dude who’s wife bought him a Maserati GranCabrio for his 40th recently.
We featured pics of Kimbo arriving at LAX Airport the other day and although those sights might have satisfied some of the girls out there, I don’t think it fully gave you what you wanted – which is this – an ultra-zoomed in hi-res pic of the $2million rock in question. Put your sunglasses on […]
Google Wallet and Google Offers launched yesterday, both of which sound supremely cool – PayPal’s grumblings (and lawsuits) about commercial espionage notwithstanding. Google Wallet lets users swipe their phones in lieu of credit cards, even allowing subscription to a new prepaid Google debit card; Google Offers looks to work like a virtual loyalty card.
A report about a month ago attributed that South Africa indeed stared a water crisis directly in the eye. Experts told the inaugural South African Water and Energy Forum in Johannesburg that we even face the possibility of chronic water shortages as early as 2020. Now Eskom-esque tariff hikes loom too.
Most of us have been hounded by debt collectors at some point in our lives, but I doubt anyone has ever had their debt scrapped because of it. Yet a judge in Britain set aside a debt of over R200,000 in an effort to reprimand collectors for “torturing” their customer.
No, we’re not trying to pull any wool over anyone’s eyes here. We know how some of you enjoy a good round of golf from time to time, and what with Pravin Grodhan going hard at the “sinners” again this year, what better way to spite him than buying your very own country club in Florida?
Forbes have released the latest update of the 400 richest people in America, and it read likes a who’s-who of global masonry. Those money-grubbers have a combined worth of $1,37 trillion. Goodness gracious, that must buy a heap of private geography lessons.