Bankrupt British carmaker MG Rover, which last week axed 5 000 jobs at its central England car factory, more than doubled its financial losses during 2004, The Times newspaper said on Wednesday, quoting administration sources. The losses related to the group’s car-making and engine divisions, the daily said.
The Kremlin’s alleged backsliding on democracy was ”very worrying”, the United States Secretary of State said on Tuesday on the eve of her meeting with the Russian president in Moscow. Condoleezza Rice expressed increasing concern at the consolidation of power inside the Kremlin, and warned Vladimir Putin not to cling to power beyond his present term.
Following two days of consultation with its counsel, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday decided to serve gold-miner Harmony Gold with papers to the effect that the company should stop its current process of laying off workers. The union said the papers will be served on the company on Wednesday evening.
Angolan health officials said on Wednesday that the death toll from the Ebola-like Marburg virus is climbing still, reaching 239, but at a slower rate as more citizens are joining in a mass effort to stamp out the disease. A total of 518 people are under observation, of whom 406 are in Uige, after coming in contact with the virus.
A large trade deficit is necessary if the South African economy is to grow sufficiently, an economist said on Wednesday. ”The trade deficit will be substantial as we import a lot of large capital items. We have to get used to a big trade deficit in South Africa,” Stanlib economist Kevin Lings told reporters in Johannesburg.
The Credit Bureau Association has come out in support of a regulatory framework for credit bureaux, saying on Wednesday that it is working with the government on the matter. Last week, some credit bureaux accused the government of wanting to abolish them, saying the draft National Credit Bill’s aims are ”totally unrealistic”.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was off its best levels at midday on Wednesday, although the overall market remained in the black despite the firm rand. Traders said that better metals prices were lending some support, as were the firmer global markets overnight. At noon, the all-share index had added 0,12%.
The Los Angeles Times dismissed a reporter after an investigation found that his story about the death of a fraternity pledge at a state university ”fell far short” of standards, the newspaper said. An editor’s note in the Times on Tuesday said the story by Eric Slater on March 29 had numerous inaccuracies and carried quotations from sources that could not be verified.
A New Zealand teenager was stopped three times for drunk-driving last weekend but police had no power to confiscate his licence, a report said on Wednesday. Police Sergeant Tony Mumford told the Waikato Times newspaper the licence confiscation laws were aimed at offenders with more than twice the legal blood alcohol limit and not at repeat offenders.
For his next stunt, American magician David Blaine says he’ll perform an ”easy and fun” high wire act in Manhattan on Halloween. ”Basically, it’s something that’s been done in the circuses, based on the old high-wire acts,” Blaine said on Tuesday. ”It’s like family entertainment, this one.”