No image available
/ 21 September 2007
The price of London Brent oil hit another all-time high on Friday on United States storm concerns at the end of a record-breaking week that saw New York crude soar beyond per barrel. The price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery surged as high as ,35 per barrel, beating Thursday’s record.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Cuban leader Fidel Castro may have dropped out of sight, but his trademark green military cap is everywhere. Nearly 49 years after Castro’s socialist revolution, the Fidel cap is selling like hot cakes to tourists visiting Cuba, and more and more young Cubans are also snatching them up.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
At least 3 000 people led by Buddhist monks marched along flooded streets in Yangon on Friday, piling pressure on Burma’s ruling junta in the most sustained challenge to its rule in nearly 20 years. About 1 500 cinnamon-robed monks marched barefoot through the city on Friday, attracting an equal number of followers.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
A 19-year-old was arrested for child neglect after three of her four children were found in a cage, Limpopo police said on Friday. Spokesperson Superintendent Ronel Otto said the woman, who is seven months pregnant, was arrested on Thursday in Zebediela outside Polokwane.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
The world’s largest toy maker, Mattel, apologised on Friday for damaging China’s reputation after recent massive recalls of its Chinese-made toys, admitting it targeted some goods that were actually up to scratch. Mattel has come under scrutiny following the recall of about 21-million of the toys in a span of five weeks.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Tanzania will boost the proportion of citizens with access to electricity to 25% by around 2013, the country’s energy minister said on Friday. Only about 10% of Tanzania’s 40-million people currently have access to electricity, and the government plans to focus its efforts on the poorest living in rural areas.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Sri Lankan fighter jets bombed a Tamil Tiger military base in the rebel-held far north on Friday, triggering multiple explosions, the air force said, while a suspected rebel roadside bomb killed one civilian in the east. The air strike targeted top leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma on Friday embarked on his first foreign trip since taking office this week, heading to neighbouring Guinea and Liberia to promote ties damaged by more than a decade of war. The former insurance executive was sworn in on Monday within hours of being declared winner of a run-off election.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
South Africa is dogged by a skills mismatch that is like a ticking time bomb, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Friday. The economy has been generating about 76% of jobs requiring semi-skilled and skilled labour, with only 26% of generated jobs requiring labour at the low-skilled level, he said.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Bangladeshi police broke up a protest march by hundreds of Muslims after Friday prayers over the publication of a cartoon that they say offended their religion. Bangladesh suspended publication of Alpin, a weekly satire magazine of leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo, and its publishers apologised.