No image available
/ 22 December 2005
Spawned by unrelenting rains, some of the most severe floods in decades have killed at least 130 people in peninsular South-East Asia, according to the latest reports on Thursday. Three weeks of flooding in southern Thailand have left 52 people dead and thousands stranded without provisions in remote areas.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
South African urban-area domestic workers must earn R5,11 an hour — up from R4,10, while their rural counterparts must earn R4,15 — up from R3,33 — if they work more than 27 hours a week, says Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana. The determination took effect on December 1, according to a government notice of November.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
New York transit worker union leaders could face jail time on Thursday if they don’t call off their strike and a judge makes good his threat, as New Yorkers brave yet a third day of long, cold walks and traffic jams. The Transport Workers’ Union is already being fined -million for each day of the action.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
The heaviest snowfall in decades has pounded southern South Korea, leaving at least one person dead and another injured and forcing nearly 1 200 schools to close temporarily, officials and media reported on Thursday. Meanwhile, severe snowstorms caused power failures for more than one million people in several provinces of Japan.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
This Friday, a long chapter in the history of Volkswagen AG ends when the last air-cooled engine will be hoisted into a vehicle seen as a museum piece almost everywhere else across the planet. VW is being forced to change the minivan’s historic rear-mounted engine because of a new Brazilian emissions law to reduce pollution that goes into effect in 2006.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday agreed to cancel ,3-billion owed by 19 of the world’s poorest countries, after reports that it was back-tracking on the debt-relief plan sparked an outcry. The IMF had previously said it wanted one last ”spot check” of the nations’ economic policies.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
The JSE continued its advance into record territory on Thursday morning, albeit in quiet trade. Dealers said that positive sentiment towards equities and a higher gold price were boosting the local bourse. By 11.50am, the all-share index was up 0,26% at 17 944,19, having earlier touched a lifetime high of 17 974,551.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
Boeing says it plans to deliver 112 of its new 787 airplanes in 2008 and 2009, and is still on track to get the plane into service in the early summer of 2008. Still, the company could soon reach a point where it is unable to provide potential customers with airplanes as quickly as they might want them.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
A deeply pious Dutch businessman is well on his way to completing a faithful reconstruction of Noah’s Ark in scaled down form on the basis of biblical texts, the Volkskrant newspaper reported on Thursday. Johan Huibers (47) plans to take his 70m vessel on a tour of the Dutch waterways once it is complete.
No image available
/ 22 December 2005
A special committee has refused to grant amnesty to late former security police officer Colonel Gideon Nieuwoudt, according to its report released in Pretoria on Wednesday. The report was released by Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla, according to a statement from her office.