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 Victory Day in Russia is celebrated on May 9 and is the country’s second most popular public holiday after New Year’s Day. The holiday marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War in 1945. Unlike Europe where it is celebrated on May 8, Victory Day in Russia is celebrated on May 9 as Germany’s surrender was signed late in the evening on May 8, 1945 when it was already May 9 in Russia. Victory Day in Russia commemorates millions of people who lost their lives in the Second World War, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, and honors the bravery of Russian soldiers and Russian people on the whole whose heroism saved the country from Nazi invaders. It is estimated that the USSR lost about 25 million citizens in the four years of fighting. Victory Day in Russia is a sacred holiday for Russians who often say that there is not a single family in the country who did not lose someone in that war.
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ANC stalwart Ruth Mompati dies
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 Ruth Mompati, 89, died in the early hours of Tuesday, 12 May 2015, after an illness.Mompati was born in Tlapeng village, near Vryburg, in the North West on September 14, 1925.She started working as a teacher in the area in 1944 but her teaching career was curtailed in 1952 when she got married and had her employment terminated under apartheid laws.She later relocated to Soweto where she worked as a typist for Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo at their law firm and became an active member of the ANC.During this period, she became a member of the ANC Women’s League National Executive Committee, became involved in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and helped form the Federation of South African Women. She was among the organisers of the historic women’s anti-pass law march to the Union Buildings on August 9 1956, alongside Helen Joseph, Lillian Ngoyi and Gertrude Shope.In 1962 she went into exile and received military training in the Soviet Union.
 Ms Anna Raduchowska-Brochwicz, Ambassador of Poland in South Africa, is pictured addressing guests at the celebration of Poland’s Constitution Day.
Growth and development of tourism in the African continent is at the top of the agenda during the African Tourism Ministers roundtable discussion on the eve of the official opening of the Tourism Indaba in Durban on Friday. The roundtable discussion hosted by South African Tourism Minister, Derek Hanekom with the theme ‘Africa: Open for Tourism Business’, afforded thirteen African Ministers and key tourism industry players an opportunity to discuss and debate the current state of Tourism in Africa with a view of collectively formulating solutions to grow and develop tourism on the continent. Minister Hanekom said the African market was undergoing unprecedented growth in tourist arrivals, adding that global interest in the continent, and a growing middle class with disposal income, is driving economic growth.
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South Africa and Mauritania to establish investment committee
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 South Africa and Mauritania are to establish a joint trade and investment committee following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries.Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Rob Davies, together with Mauritanian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass, on Friday signed the MoU on economic cooperation.Minister Davies said the significance of the agreement will create a framework to build on the fairly modest economic relations between the two countries.“We have been cooperating -- particularly when the President of Mauritania was the chair of the African Union (AU) -- on a lot of AU business and we have cordial relations but in the area of the economy, our relations are not particularly strong,” said the Minister.
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