He may be leader of the world’s second-largest economy, but Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi conceded on Tuesday that his powers stop at imposing fashion. Koizumi has encouraged his Cabinet to take off their ties and jackets this summer to save electricity on air conditioning.
A probe by the Competition Commission has revealed that most South African car manufacturers and their franchised dealers have been guilty of price-fixing and anti-competitive practices.The commission also said its analysis thus far indicates that prices of new cars in South Africa are much higher than in other countries.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was weaker at midday on Tuesday as players took profits after the bourse’s rally to a record high on Monday. The losses came despite the rand, which was trading at its worst level against the dollar in more than eight months. By 12.08pm, the rand was quoted at R6,72 per dollar.
Yukos oil founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was found guilty on Tuesday of fraud and tax evasion and sentenced to nine years in prison after a politically charged trial seen by critics as a Kremlin-driven vendetta against Russia’s once-richest man. Defence lawyers have vowed to file an appeal against the verdict and sentence.
Fires in the Siberian forests — the largest in the world and vital to the planet’s health — have increased tenfold in the last 20 years and could again rage out of control this summer, Russian scientists warn. In 2003, one of the hottest summers in Europe, 22-million hectares of spruce, larch, fir, Scots pine and oak were destroyed, charred or scorched.
The medical community was relieved on Tuesday as the influenza vaccine was back in pharmacies, following a two-month delay in its release. The medical community has ”heaved a sigh of relief” with the release, said the medical director of SAA-Netcare travel clinics, Dr Andrew Jamieson.
South Africa’s real gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally annualised and adjusted basis rose by 3,5% in the first quarter of 2005, from 4% in the fourth quarter of 2004, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. The figure is "obviously less than what we expected", economists said.
Britain and other members of ”new Europe” are planning to challenge French President Jacques Chirac to declare whether the European Union Constitution is dead or alive after the emphatic French no in Sunday’s referendum.
It is in an idyllic spot. Surrounded by lakes and forests, the town of Templin is popular in summer with tourists who wander among its sandy paths and pine trees, or go fishing in its reed-filled canals. It was here in rustic communist East Germany that the woman who is likely to become Germany’s next leader grew up.
The Constitutional Court upheld intellectual property law in its judgement in the matter between SABMiller and T-shirt-maker Laugh It Off, law firm Spoor & Fisher said on Monday, adding that the judgement is important because it harks back to a 1996 decision not to include intellectual property rights in the Bill of Rights.