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/ 7 September 2004
An investigation began on Tuesday into a freak tornado that struck Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International airport, overturning a delivery vehicle on the airport’s cargo apron. The mini-twister struck 2km south of the control tower on Monday afternoon, injuring the van driver and spilling fuel over a large area.
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/ 7 September 2004
The appointment of Eastern Cape tourism board CEO Glenton de Kock has been put on hold after the Eastern Cape tourism board resigned en masse this weekend in protest against his appointment. However, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Andre de Wet says he hopes to have a new board by the end of this month.
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/ 7 September 2004
The operating profit of petrochemical giant Sasol fell by 22% owing to the strength of the rand, the company said at its annual results presentation on Tuesday. The negative effect of the rand was cushioned by the beneficial high oil prices and management initiatives to streamline the business, Sasol chief executive Pieter Cox said.
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/ 7 September 2004
With a couple of days left before South African matriculants start their final examinations, a strike by public servants planned for September 16 could deal a heavy blow to examination preparations. Close to 400 000 public servants will embark on a one-day strike on September 16.
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/ 7 September 2004
Notwithstanding a 4% decline in group revenue, electronics group Grintek increased attributable earnings by 286% from R12,3-million to R47,5-million for the year to the end of June. Headline earnings for the 12 months rose by 131% from R22,9-million to R52,9-million.
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/ 7 September 2004
South Africa’s largest mobile telecommunications group, Vodacom, on Tuesday unveiled the country’s first initiative to make cellular communications accessible to all South Africans, especially people with disabilities. The phone enables blind people to access voice and text services via text-to-speech technology.
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/ 7 September 2004
Paris police have discovered an underground cinema — complete with projector, screen, seating and bar — which was set up in a disused quarry beneath the Trocadero in the capital’s plush 16th arrondissement, officials said on Tuesday. The chamber, situated about 20m below ground level, was fed by electricity stolen from power lines.
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/ 7 September 2004
A chronic fuel shortage that has crippled Zimbabwe for the last three days will end ”within 48 hours,” the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said on Tuesday. The bank’s governor, Gideon Gono, said -million had been released to pay for desperately needed fuel already in Zimbabwe, but held in bond by oil companies.
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/ 7 September 2004
A con man who plastered tomato sauce to a bandage to fake a back injury and receive alms in Nairobi’s streets has been arrested, a Kenyan newspaper said on Tuesday. Gibson Ngige was arrested on Sunday and frogmarched to Nairobi’s railway police station along with two accomplices, who have been collecting about 1 500 shillings begging for money to pay for medical treatment.
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/ 7 September 2004
Floods unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 114 people and left dozens more missing in southwestern China, prompting authorities to put the massive Three Gorges hydroelectric project on alert, officials reported on Tuesday. Authorities called in thousands of army and navy personnel to help after five days of continual downpours in Sichuan province.