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/ 22 February 2006

Thai airline to offer direct flights to Johannesburg

Flag carrier Thai Airways International said on Wednesday it would launch direct flights from Bangkok to Johannesburg in October due to rising demand. ”Johannesburg is the hub of air travelling in Africa. It is a good connection and we can get passengers from North and East Africa,” said Wallop Bhukkanasut, Vice-President of the airline’s sales and distribution department.

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/ 22 February 2006

Drought withers Kenyan tea production

Kenya’s tea production fell in January to 17 800 tonnes, half that recorded in the same month last year, owing to a searing drought that has put millions across East Africa in the danger of starvation, the Tea Board of Kenya said on Tuesday. Production was expected to drop again in February and March as a result of the prolonged dry spell predicted by meteorologists.

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/ 22 February 2006

‘He was using Enron like a damn ATM’

As a vice-president of investor relations and corporate secretary for Enron’s board, Paula Rieker viewed the energy trading giant’s inner workings as it rose to be a Wall Street darling and then imploded in scandal. Rieker on Tuesday testified how former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling ordered abrupt last-minute changes to two quarterly earnings reports in 2000 to please analysts and investors.

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/ 22 February 2006

Downs out to end five-year jinx

Tell Neil Tovey that Wednesday night’s needle Premier League title race showdown against Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus is effectively worth six points and the Mamelodi Sundowns coach proclaims in a matter-of-fact manner: ”It’s worth more than that.” ”It’s a game we simply have to win,” says the Sundowns coach.

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/ 22 February 2006

Asian filmmakers cool on quotas to fight Hollywood

With their huge budgets and slick marketing machines, Hollywood movies have long cast a shadow over Asia, but filmmakers in the region believe creativity rather than protectionism is the key to boosting local fortunes. ”If you leave a lion and a mouse in the same place, what will be the result?” said Yang Gi-Hwan, spokesperson of the Screen Quota Action Alliance.