*   South African winemakers are getting younger, writes Wall Street Journal‘s Will Lyons, agreeing with UK wine writer Tim Atkin.  For example Klein Constantia winemaker Matthew Day is only 29 years old, yet has worked in Bordeaux, the Barossa Valley, and in Napa.  Recently in London, Day told the writer that ‘there’s a new, revived energy in the South African wine industry at the moment‘.  Day says that the old style of heavy oaking and adding sulphur are over, the emphasis being on freshness.  The headline to the article asks: ‘Is Stellenbosch the new Saint-Èmilion?‘ and the subtitle boldly praises: ‘An influx of new talent is pushing to make South African wines some of the very best in the world’.

*   The G7 Foreign Ministers issued a joint statement in Berlin last week about the Ebola disease, expressing their concern about the fast spread of the disease in West Africa, and deploring that there is no cure against the virus yet.  The disease was described as ‘common global threat to peace and security‘.  Attempts to curb the virus from spreading further are supported, and a call was made for more financial support to combat the virus.   Tourism to our country has been affected by the fear that the virus may be in our country too, just because we also live on the African continent!

*   Locals want lower-priced roaming when traveling overseas, a study has shown.  Samsung, iPhone and BlackBerry are the top three smartphone types locals use when they travel. When traveling internationally, 25% buy a local SIM card, 21% only connect where wifi is available, 19% use only an SMS service, 7% switch off their phones, and 21% retain all their mobile services.