African Countries With the Worst Covid-19 Death Intensity

 

As shown in the above table Mayotte is the African territory with the highest number of covid-19 deaths per capita and that too by a large margin. Its figure for cases per million people was even higher than that for Spain on May 13. This is pretty bad given that it had only 6 cases on March 20. A weak health system is part of the reason. Not unlike in France where thousands of beds have been eliminated in hospitals during the last two decades.

Mauritius is at number four. We wasted precious time in the beginning when politicians were blurting out a lot of dangerous rubbish. We’ve seen how fundamental a good universal public health system is. We need to seriously upgrade ours. This involves a course correction. 

Robben is World's Fastest Footballer

He clocked 37km/h when he scored that magnificent goal against Spain in the 2014 World Cup. Which is slightly less than the average speed of 37.58km/h of one Usain Bolt in the fastest 100m ever. Except that this includes reaction time of the giant and it's the average speed. In fact the top speed reached by Mr. Bolt during that record-shattering dash is 44.72km/h. Of course that makes it the fastest any member of our species has travelled using his own legs.

But quite slow compared to speeds Cheetahs reach routinely. Doesn't mean they can't be friends though.

Why Scrapping of Point System Looks Sloppy

Because it doesn't seem to be backed by a rigorous analysis of the impact the current system has had on the safety of our roads. Minister Bodha might want to replace it with a "simpler" system of 7-8 serious road offences but I think he is confusing a simplistic system with a simple one. And this could be bad news for all road users. Well, save one.

When people have looked at the effect of such a system elsewhere they found -- like in Spain -- that it saved 618 lives over the first 18 months of its implementation. That's a reduction of 14.5% of the number of road fatalities. Of course experiences will vary across countries which is why we need to know the hard facts of our own. Especially since we have about the same amount of people dying on our roads as Norway. Which has four times more people than us.

The last time Mauritius tried the "simpler" route for something fundamental was in 2006 when one toxic bean-counter -- in the name of robust growth rates -- flattened our tax structure to 15%.

Loch Ness Monster Could Get New Passport

If the Scots vote yes in tomorrow's referendum. The UK would then be smaller than Uruguay if the 78,000-odd square kilometres that the monster calls home become a new country. Which translates into a drop of 11 spots -- to 91 -- in the list of the world's largest countries. Mauritius is at 180.

That's not the only referendum happening though: Catalonians will also decide what they want to do on November 9. But not before Brazilians try to elect a woman -- Marina or Dilma -- to another term as President on October 5th.

We need a referendum here too. About whether we want to give up our excellent system of government and electoral setup for some TINA-infected bean-counting galimatia.

Robie van Per-Seal and Holland Trash La Hoja

In a brutal 5-1 win in Salvador, Bahia. RVP scored two goals including an amazing 'flying-seal' header. Robben also scored two magnificent goals after literally making fun of the defence of the reigning champs. They have surely impressed everybody while coach van Gaal has said that his team can get better.

Suarez is in action at 23h00 while Gerrard's side will meet 4-time winners Italy at 02h00. Which means you have one hour to get those chips and beer. Or whatever.

China Already Ahead in Medals Count

At the end of the first day. And they are still topping the charts as Day 2 draws to a close. They've got 6 gold and a total of 10 medals. The US is second and Italy is 3rd. In all 21 countries have won medals.

I watched Brazil beat Belarus a little while ago. For sure they've got some great talent like Neymar, Pato, Oscar and Thiago Silva in there but I was wondering if they would be able to beat La Roja in the next World Cup. Well Japan has beaten Spain a few days ago. And Senegal won 2-0 against Suarez's Uruguay. Let's see.

Also watched a great women volleyball match between Brazil and Turkey. The Turkish ladies put in a great fight and they were about to start the 4th set when I went to snooze (Brazil won 3-2).

Man, Olympics are great!!!

Two-time Champs Meet Two-time Runners-up

Uruguay and Holland will both try to clinch their third ticket to a World Cup Final in Sunday's fiesta at Soccer City. Difficult to say who will win when we look back at the hair-raising quarter-finals when Gyan's penalty hit the woodwork. Or when remember how a brilliant selecao collapsed in 15 short minutes and were rather unrecognisable from then on.

Germany looks pretty good on paper after having thrashed England and other big favourite Argentina. But this is the World Cup and you just never know. For sure if you wait for the ball to come to your feet like Christiano Ronaldo did then for sure it makes sense that you have already gone home. Just like Dunga was absolutely right to leave Ronaldihno and Ronaldo behind.