South Africa introduces Mandarin training program for local tour guides

STORY: South Africa introduces Mandarin training program for local tour guides DATELINE: Aug. 20, 2022 LENGTH: 0:03:15 LOCATION: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa CATEGORY: SOCIETY/CULTURE SHOTLIST: 1 various of the celebration 2 SOUNDBITE 1 (English): FISH MAHLALELA, South African Deputy Minister of Tourism 3 SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MAEMU MANDAA, Tour guide 4 SOUNDBITE 3 (English): NONHLANHLA NGWABE, Tour guide STORYLINE: South African Deputy Minister of Tourism Fish Mahlalela on Thursday awarded certificates to tourist guides who successfully completed the Foreign Language Training Programme in Mandarin. The Foreign Language Training Programme is a capacity-building initiative designed to enable tourist guides to develop competencies in Mandarin, with the view of improving service levels and visitor experience. The training programme focused on language tutoring, reading and writing skills, and a course on Chinese culture. China was among the top international tourist markets for South Africa before the outbr

Africa sees 63-pct jump in diseases spread from animals to people in last decade: WHO

STORY: Africa sees 63-pct jump in diseases spread from animals to people in last decade: WHO DATELINE: July 15, 2022 LENGTH: 00:00:33 LOCATION: Brazzaville CATEGORY: HEALTH SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MATSHIDISO MOETI, WHO Regional Director for Africa 2. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MATSHIDISO MOETI, WHO Regional Director for Africa 3. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MATSHIDISO MOETI, WHO Regional Director for Africa STORYLINE: Africa is facing a growing risk of outbreaks caused by zoonotic pathogens, such as the monkeypox virus which originated in animals and then switched species and infected humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday, noting a 63-percent increase in the number of zoonotic outbreaks in the region from 2012 to 2022 compared to the period from 2001 to 2011. According to the statement by the WHO regional office for Africa, citing a new WHO study, the African region has reported 1,843 substantiated public health events since 2001, 30 percent of which were zoonotic disease outbr