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/ 22 February 2006
Ocean scientists can now plunge into the middle of the sea without leaving their offices. Two-metre, 45kg, underwater gliders are swimming the oceans of the world and dutifully sending data home on everything from whale calls to the massive waves produced by hurricanes.
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/ 22 February 2006
The current Transnet workers’ strike will continue if management refuse to engage unions constructively, the United Association of South Africa (Uasa) said on Wednesday. ”We are receiving conflicting messages from the trade and industry minister [Alec Erwin],” said Uasa official Leon Grobler.
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/ 22 February 2006
The JSE was firmer in noon trade on Wednesday, with a weaker currency boosting heavyweight rand hedge stocks. Good corporate results released before the opening further helped sentiment. By 12.07pm, the all-share and all-share industrial indices added 1,44% and 1,26% respectively.
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/ 22 February 2006
French investigators headed to Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday to hunt the leader of a gang that tortured and murdered a young Jewish man near Paris, a crime thought to have been motivated in part by anti-Semitism. Two officers were expected in Abidjan late in the day to track down the gang’s alleged leader, a 25-year-old convicted petty criminal of Ivorian origin.
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/ 22 February 2006
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
President Yoweri Museveni has warned Ugandans not to be influenced by foreign meddlers, in a speech that closed an election campaign criticised by human rights groups for government harassment of the opposition. Opinion polls suggest Museveni could have difficulty capturing a majority in Thursday’s vote.
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/ 22 February 2006
The Seychelles has banned foreign ships licensed to fish in its territorial waters from removing fins of captured sharks, in a move to conserve marine life. The fins are highly prized by gourmets in many parts of East Asia, particularly southern China, and attract high prices.
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/ 22 February 2006
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
South Africa’s consumer price index excluding mortgage rate changes (CPIX) for metro and other areas, which is used by the South African Reserve Bank for its inflation target, rose by 4,3% year-on-year in January after increasing by 4% in December, Statistics South Africa said.
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/ 22 February 2006
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.