JOHANNESBURG - Nelson Mandela is responding to treatment for a lung infection, the South African government said yesterday. The news eased days of speculation about the health of the ageing statesman, being treated at a Pretoria military hospital. But medical experts warned that for a 94-year-old, any infection can be serious. Mandela's wife Graca Machel admitted it was painful to see him growing frail. "I mean, this spirit and this sparkle, you see that … it's fading," she told eNews Channel Africa. AFP
SYDNEY - An Australian radio station pledged at least A$500,000 (HK$4 million) to help the bereaved family of a nurse duped by a prank phone call. Jacintha Saldanha, who transferred the hoax call from Sydney station 2Day FM to the Duchess of Cambridge's nurse at London's King Edward VII's Hospital, was found on Friday after apparently committing suicide. The station initially suspended all advertising after the death, but said it would resume yesterday with all profits until the end of the year given to an "appropriate fund". AFP