SURPRISE MISSION - Former US president Bill Clinton arrives at North Korea's Pyongyang airport on Tuesday on an unusual visit to free two jailed US journalists - the highest-profile visit by a US official to the closed country for a decade.
AT HOME
FNB's house price index fell 9,5% in July (9,7% in June); Standard Bank had a 3,8% average monthly drop in median house prices this year. Ford will produce only 28 000 vehicles at its Silverton plant in Pretoria this year compared with 55 000 last year, says its chief Hal Feder. Manufacturing activity in July fell back to its May level of 37,3 on the purchasing managers index compiled by Kagiso Securities. The DA says the National Conventional Arms Control Committee is in disarray and that SA has been selling arms to undemocratic countries such as Iran, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Swine flu claims its first SA casualty, a university student. The global death toll is 800. SA's consumer price inflation slowed sharply to 6,9% in June. Producer price inflation declined by a record 4,1% in June, said Stats SA. Bidvest clinches a deal to buy Eastern European food-service group Nowaco for €250m, subject to EU competition approval. The NUM declares a wage dispute with Murray & Roberts. It's demanding 15%; the company has offered 9%. President Jacob Zuma accepts a "significant" cash settlement from the Guardian newspaper over its claim he was a rapist and corrupt. Former DA leader Tony Leon (tipped as envoy to Argentina) undergoes diplomatic training, together with ex-ministers Zola Skweyiya and Ngconde Balfour. An 11 m steel sculpture, the "fire walker" by William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx, is unveiled in Newtown as part of Jo'burg inner city's regeneration programme.ABROAD
Global stock markets hit their highest levels this year after HSBC and Barclays post surprisingly high H1 profits. Oil reaches a year high of US$73,87/barrel, prompting fears that higher energy costs will fuel inflation and undercut economic recovery. Africa has attracted almost $1bn of net fund inflows this year, reversing the panic sell-off that hit its fledgling markets at the end of 2008, says fund tracker EPFR Global. UBS shows a $1,3bn Q2 loss. ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell post-tax profits fell by about 67% in Q2. Nissan unveils its first mass-produced electric car, due to be launched in Japan and the US next year. The five-door hatchback will have a range of 160 km before it would need recharging. Malaysians protest a new detention-without-trial law. Israeli police evict nine Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem after a court ruled the property was originally Jewish-owned. The Archbishop of Westminster says Facebook makes friendship a "commodity". The trial of a Sudanese woman for wearing trousers is adjourned again. Died: Corazon Aquino (76), former Philippines president.SPORT
Polyurethane swimsuits enable swimmers to break 43 world records at the world championships in Italy. The Springboks beat the All Blacks 31-19. Australia and England draw the third Ashes Test. World No 1 golfer Tiger Woods wins the Buick Open.
