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/ 21 May 2008

Oil rises above $129, near record high

Oil held above a barrel on Wednesday, within sight of the previous session’s record high, supported by a weak United States dollar and concern about supplies. Attention will shift later to a US government report expected to show that crude inventories rose for a fifth straight time last week while petrol and distillates supplies also increased.

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/ 16 May 2008

Resources boost JSE to new high

South African stocks hit another fresh high on Friday morning, boosted by strong gains for resources. At 11.56am, the all-share index was up 0,82%, boosted by a 1,48% rise in resources and a 2,06% gain for the platinum-mining index. Banks were up 0,37% and financials were 0,61% better. Industrial were flat (-0,03%) and the gold-mining index eased 0,80%.

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/ 19 April 2008

Oil hits new record $117 a barrel

Oil prices hit a record high a barrel on Friday as jitters over Nigerian oil supplies outweighed a rally in the dollar and fears of an economic slowdown in giant energy consumer China. United States light crude settled up ,83 at ,96 a barrel, before hitting a record . London Brent crude gained ,49 to ,92.

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/ 16 April 2008

Nature oasis flourishes in Belgium’s coal belt

Fringed by dark hills of coal waste and long-shuttered collieries, Belgium’s first national park might seem a humble contender for the role of global model for conservation and economic regeneration. The pine woods and heather meadows of the Hoge Kempen Park in north-eastern Belgium sit on a small plateau above criss-crossing motorways and cooling towers.

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/ 22 March 2008

Central banks in mortgage crisis talks

Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic are in talks about the feasibility of mass purchases of mortgage-backed securities in a bid to solve the global credit crisis, the Financial Times said on Saturday. The newspaper, without citing sources, said the talks were at an early stage and part of a broader exchange on how to battle the turmoil in financial markets,