Pretoria - A R500 million investment project has been launched in Babelegi, Hammanskaraal, creating over 130 permanent jobs.The two new production...

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LONDON – Long the best pole vaulter in the United States, Jenn Suhr officially became the best pole vaulter in the world Monday evening when she won the gold medal in a stirring competition at Olympic Stadium. On the track, Michael Tinsley won a surprising, and well-earned, silver in the men’s 400m hurdles. Suhr shines [...]Suhr wins Olympic Gold is a post from: Time-to-Run USA



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Olympic Games – 3-12 August 2012 Kimberley Smith was disappointed with her 15th place in the marathon around a tight and difficult course in 2h 26m 59s. “I just didn’t feel great today, the course I found really, really difficult. I was slipping, the cobblestones were really hard to run on, the turns were really [...]Smith finds course tough is a post from: Time-to-Run New Zealand



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New Zealand and Oceania Cross Country Championships, Minogue Park Te Rapa – 4 August 2012 Kenyan Edwin Kaitany found the muddy underfoot conditions difficult as he sped to victory in the New Zealand cross country championships at Minogue Park Te Rapa on Saturday. The 21 year old recorded 38m 54s for the 12km, beating Australian [...]NZ and Oceania Cross Champs 2012 is a post from: Time-to-Run New Zealand



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International digital arts festival North East of North – NEoN - returns to Dundee this November, featuring moving image, performance, music and technology-driven arts. Building on the success of last year, the theme of the 2011 festival is 'collaboration and legacy'. NEoN 11 will also have a distinct Nordic flavour, including the participation of several renowned artists from Scandinavia. The festival runs from the 5th to 12th November, 2011.

The new programme is set to showcase each element of digital art innovation: design and art exhibitions, sound and moving image installations, digital animation and music performances. In addition to the digital art on display, festival goers will be able to enjoy an extensive programme of workshops, design competitions, and debates. The festival week will culminate in an entertaining digital music and arts event taking place on one of Dundee's iconic landmarks.

NEoN will deliver a packed programme of talks, workshops, exhibitions, commissions, screenings, performance and more, taking place at a host of cultural, business and public spaces across Dundee.

The theme for 2011 is ' collaboration and legacy ': NEoN will explore the importance of collaboration on a digital and a human level, while leaving Dundee city a tangible legacy that can be enjoyed long after the festival has ended. The festival will encompass talent from Scotland and its Nordic neighbours, crossing countries and art forms and highlighting the most exciting movements in the world of digital arts.

For all of the latest news and updates to the programme join us on the NEoN Facebook page or follow on Twitter: @weareneon

The Superb Fermanagh Seaplane Festival Returns!

Want to do something unique and exciting for finish your summer of 2011? Then the Fermanagh Seaplane Festival is a must! Taking place on the 23rd-25th September the festival plays host to many aircrafts from all across Europe including a WWII Catalina seaplane. While enjoying the sights of the seaplanes landing on the beautiful shores of lough erne there will be an abundance of great entertainment for all the family each day. If you are interested in finding out more information and being kept up to date with this extraordinary festival then visit our website (fermanaghseaplanefestival.com)

For any pilots that are interested in attending the festival organisers have a budget in place to assist visiting pilots.

The Festival is supported by NITB, Waterways Ireland and Media Sponsor UTV.

Survival International is calling for Brazilian cattle-ranchers involved in a controversial scheme to bulldoze uncontacted Indians’ land in Paraguay to be removed from the UN’s ‘Global Compact’.

The cattle-ranchers’ company, Yaguarete Pora S.A., is a member of the UN ‘Global Compact’, described as a ‘strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.’ The ‘Compact’ board is appointed and chaired by the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

But Yaguarete is destroying land belonging to the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode tribe in flagrant violation of both Paraguayan and international law. The company is the proprietor of 78,549 hectares of ancestral Totobiegosode land and intends to leave only 16,784 hectares of it as ‘continuous forest.’

Yaguarete joined the ‘Global Compact’ in January 2008, just months before it started to bulldoze the Totobiegosode’s forest. By doing so, the company is violating the Compact’s first two principles: 1) ‘Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and 2) make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.’

Some Totobiegosode Indians who have already been contacted have repeatedly criticised Yaguarete’s work on their land. The forest being destroyed is the subject of a legal claim submitted by the Totobiegosode in 1993.

Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘Yaguarete cannot be said to be committed to ‘aligning their operations with human rights’. We urge the Compact to blackball Yaguarete from the initiative now – if it doesn’t, it runs the risk of losing all integrity.’ source Survival International

Jeremy Thomas heads Monoqool for The AgenC
The new Danish eyewear brand Monoqool joined a limited group of brands like Adidas, Sony and Apple, when it was announced on recently that they won the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ category of the RED DOT 2010 Award. ‘’Being recoqnized by RED DOT in the top category is a great honour for us’, says Allan G. Petersen from Monoqool. ‘Knowing that we join a very exclusive club of former winners like for example Apple who previously won the ‘Best of the Best’ category with the Ipod just makes it an even greater achievement’.

Since 2004 only two eyewear companies have won in the ‘Best of Best’ category, so for a newcomer in the eyewear industry it is considerable achievement.

The Helix series which won the award is designed by the Danish design duo Henrik Holbaek and Claus Jensen from Tools Design. They came up with a very unique and screwless hinge shaped as a spiral. A solution so different, that it has been patented. The eyewear is made completely without any welding, screws or bolts.

"When designing the Helix range of eyewear for MONOQOOL, we wanted to make a statement. A statement that you can even simplify what is already regarded as simple," says Claus Jensen and Henrik Holbaek, Tools Design.

After a couple of years of preparation Monoqool has just started a major launch of their two ranges to a worldwide audience. In March the ranges are launched in 12 countries simultaneously. ‘Both my partner in Monoqool and myself have lived abroad in Japan for many years, so it has been natural for us to start globally right from the start. That’s why we actually have begun selling in 12 countries before starting in our home market Denmark.’, says Allan G. Petersen.

About Monoqool

Monoqool was born global. The company is based on Japanese technology and Danish design. It was created in Japan and Denmark by two Danes with a lifetime of experience doing business in both countries. The brand is targeting a global audience and was the first sales samples were shown in September 2009 at the annual trade fair SILMO in Paris.

Monoqool was established in 2008 by two Danes with a vision of bringing new technology, design and fashion into the modern eyeglass industry. The mission was to use the best from the two worlds: To combine Japanese craftsmanship and technology with Danish design and an innovative mindset.

The innovative foundation was to create something new and spectacular. The result was two new concepts: A new signature hinge and a line of designed and fashionable eyeglasses with a three-dimensional effect.

With the spiral hinge in Helix the company has not only got itself a significant and visible signature but also presented the industry with a major new invention. The spiral is a patented invention, which changes the whole concept of the eyeglass hinge. HELIX is designed by the Danish design duo – Tools Design, who won more than 200 international design awards and distinctions.

All products are being exclusively produced in Sabae in Fukui Prefecture in Western Japan. Japan is a world leader in the eyeglass-industry, and Sabae is one of the largest manufacturing centers of eyeglass frames in Japan building on a sophisticated and highly skilled base of small specialized manufacturers.

The product line Twins is based on advanced technical features as well. A two layer frame build in exact angles leaves a 3-D impression in various colors and textures. This line is designed by Danish designer Karina Mencke.

[FONT=&quot] Pretoria - South Africa continues to be a hub and destination for human trafficking and serious intervention is needed to curb this practice, says a study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

The study, commissioned by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), found that victims are mostly women, girls and boys trafficked for a variety of reasons including prostitution, pornography, domestic servitude and forced labour.

The study, Tsireledzani: Understanding the dimensions of human trafficking in southern Africa, said young boys are trafficked to smuggle drugs and for other criminal activities.

The study, which identified a number of trafficking flows into South Africa, found that the country is a destination county for long-distance flows for people mainly women trafficked from Thailand, Philippines, India, China, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine.
People trafficked within the African continent are mostly from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho.

Longer-distance trafficking involves victims trafficked from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Rwanda, Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria and Somalia. All documented cases are women trafficked for both sexual and labour exploitation and the main point of entry of this trafficking stream is OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

The study also found that the largest movement of trafficked people is from rural areas to cities.

Women, girls and boys and to a lesser extent, men are the targets of traffickers for prostitution and criminal activities.

The albino community was identified as vulnerable to human traffickers for the harvesting of body parts, due the belief of 'white' skin having potent powers.

Trafficking of South Africans out of their country is less of a problem, but eight cases were identified between January 2004 and January 2008.

Destination countries included Ireland, Zimbabwe, Israel, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Macau. In all cases, the victims were women trafficked for either sexual and labour exploitation or forced marriage.

The study, which was conducted to obtain a more detailed national picture of human trafficking in South Africa, hopes to help guide new policies to combat the practice.

Funded by the European Union, it is the first comprehensive study of the problem in South Africa. – BuaNews[/FONT]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- RockYou, the leading innovator, creator and distributor of social experiences, today announced the launch of a social media campaign to promote the UNICEF Tap Project and World Water Week, March 21-27.

"RockYou and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF are challenging RockYou's Zoo World community to raise $200,000 to support children around the world that don't have access to clean drinking water. We are proud to support the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on this cause - by tapping into the power of social networking - to improve water quality and overall well-being for children," says Lisa Marino, Chief Revenue Officer of RockYou.

The UNICEF Tap Project was first started in 2007 with 300 New York City restaurants asking their patrons to donate $1 or more in exchange for the tap water they usually receive for free; all funds raised would be used to bring safe and accessible water to millions of children worldwide. The program has since then become a national movement with thousands of restaurants across the country supporting UNICEF to raise funds.

"At a time when UNICEF innovations in the field are leveraging SMS and GPS mapping technology to track delivery of health interventions, our partnership with RockYou represents an exciting new direction for us in using social networking to communicate with and engage broader audiences in UNICEF's mission. This first collaboration on socializing the UNICEF Tap Project is part of a strategic partnership with RockYou to promote education, advocacy and fundraising and better the lives of children worldwide. "says Rajesh Anandan, Vice President for Corporate and Foundation Partnerships at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "Nearly 900 million people worldwide lack access to clean water--and half of those are children. This collaboration will help raise important funds for UNICEF's water, sanitation, and hygiene programs, helping to reduce the number of people without safe water and basic sanitation."

During World Water Week, March 21-27, 2010, the UNICEF Tap Project will once again raise funds to help provide water and sanitation - so that millions of children can lead a safe and healthy childhood - and spread awareness of the overall world water crisis. As part of this effort, RockYou is supporting the U.S Fund for UNICEF to reach millions of people across major social networks and spread the word about the need for safe and accessible water.