{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 22 mars 2010 – www.postzambia.com- March 22, 2010–INTERNATIONAL Civil Society Organisations have warned the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) not to accept the proposal by Zambia and Tanzania to lift the ban on ivory trade because it will result in the extinction of elephants.
RWANDA
UGANDA
Hot spots help keep Heritage on the boil
By Miles Johnson /www.ft.com/Published: March 22 2010
There are few greater pleasures for oilmen than being proved right.
Heritage Oil, which this month will sell its Ugandan operations for $1.35bn (£899m) after more than a decade of development work, is confident it will be proved right again.
That cash will be used to pay investors a special dividend of between 75p and £1 per share, and to delve into new projects in Africa and the Middle East.
In particular, Heritage will now switch its attention to its operations in the oil-rich autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, an area which Paul Atherton, chief financial officer, predicts could deliver Ugandan-like returns.
When the London-listed independent oil explorer arrived in Uganda in 1997, the country was a landlocked frontier economy with little infrastructure and a history of political instability.
The Uganda it departs, via the sale of its assets to its project partner Tullow Oil, has been transformed into one of the top 10 oil nations in Africa, with multinationals clambering over each other to harness the country’s energy wealth.
“For a number of years there were a large number of parties and organisations that considered there was absolutely no oil in Uganda at all,” Mr Atherton says.
“If we were not convinced then we wouldn’t have stayed, and we were always adamant that there were vast accumulations of oil.”
Heritage now estimates that Uganda’s Lake Albert basin could contain 2bn barrels of oil and will attract billions of dollars of foreign investment that has the potential to transform the local population’s standard of living.
“The strategy of the company has always been to create value through the drill bit,” he says. “We do an inordinate amount of due diligence and often engage with a country or a government earlier than others. This has given us a first mover advantage”.
While Tullow Oil, Heritage’s 50 per cent partner in Lake Albert, has won many plaudits for its Ugandan accomplishments, Tullow bought into the country in 2005, and Mr Atherton is keen to stress his company’s integral role in unearthing Uganda’s oil reserves.
“If Heritage hadn’t been there in 1997 I don’t know where the development of Lake Albert would have come from,” he says. “You need the pioneering company to be persistent and to spend the money to explore. If you go in first you can pick the best places.”
It is that approach of applying technical expertise to difficult locations, according to Mr Atherton, that has driven Heritage’s success.
A glance over much of Heritage’s portfolio away from Uganda – which includes projects in Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan – reads like a tour guide of hot spots.
The strategy has rewarded shareholders. Listed in Toronto in 1999 with a market value of C$20m (£13m), Heritage, which took a London listing in 2008, is now worth more than £1.3bn.
Among Heritage’s distinct advantages are the political connections of its controversial chief executive Anthony Buckingham, who founded the company in 1992 and has a strong relationship with Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s president.
According to the company, Mr Buckingham, a former North Sea oil diver who holds about a third of Heritage’s shares, served as a security consultant to several African governments, but has been focused on his work with Heritage since 1999.
“I think where we are different is that we have a different contact book,” Mr Atherton says.
“The management experience and expertise is different to the senior management at a number of our peers, and it means we have more hands-on experience in the oil and gas business and we have a better appreciation of political and security risks.”
The development of the Uganda basin, which requires the construction of a refinery and a 1,300km pipeline to the east African coast for upwards of $13bn, is a project beyond Heritage’s means. Mr Atherton argues that a sale was the best option.
Heritage was one of the first companies to enter Iraq after the 2003 war and one of the first to be awarded an exploration licence there in October 2007.
“There are very few places left in the world where you have the ability to go and drill and find a billion barrels of oil. Kurdistan is clearly one of those areas,” he says. “We were able to cherry-pick what we considered to be the best assets”.
The region, controlled by the Kurdish regional government, has huge potential. In May last year Heritage discovered reserves of 2-4bn barrels at its Miran West project, sending its share price soaring.
However, at present there is no export route due to a payment dispute between the Kurdish regional government and Baghdad – an impasse Mr Atherton believes will eventually be resolved following the recent Iraqi elections.
And in spite of the risks, Mr Atherton believes the Heritage model is well suited to a world where large oil reserves are to be discovered in increasingly far-flung locations.
“Supermajors are moving away from exploration, and this offers opportunities for companies like ours.
“Without question there are still billions of barrels to be found out there and Heritage is very well placed to find them.”
TANZANIA:
International CSOs petition Zambia, Tanzania’s bid to lift ivory trade ban
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe / www.postzambia.com/Mon 22 Mar. 2010
INTERNATIONAL Civil Society Organisations have warned the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) not to accept the proposal by Zambia and Tanzania to lift the ban on ivory trade because it will result in the extinction of elephants.
Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the CITES for special exemptions from the ban on killing endangered elephants for ivory so that proceeds could be used to finance game management and wildlife conservation, which they claim to be too expensive to fund.
But Kenya and Mali together with other institutions are leading an effort to block this proposal by Tanzania and Zambia to change the endangered species status of elephants and sell off stockpiles of ivory.
In a petition comprising over 500,000 signatures from around the world that will be presented at the ongoing CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar, the NGOs led by AVAAZ, stated that there was need to uphold the ban on ivory trading and save whole populations of these magnificent animals.
It stated that as long as there was demand for ivory, elephants were at risk from poaching and smuggling and signing a petition was the only chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals’ profits.
“This proposal by Tanzania and Zambia will send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it is open-season on elephants. Our best chance to save the continent’s remaining elephants is to support African conservationists and we only have days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every three years hence we are calling on people to sign this petition to protect elephants,” it stated.
Over 20 years ago, the CITES passed a worldwide ban on ivory trading.
Poaching fell and ivory prices slumped. But poor enforcement coupled with ‘experimental one-off sales’, like the one Tanzania and Zambia are seeking, drove poaching up and turned illegal trade into a lucrative business since poachers can launder their illegal ivory with the legal stockpiles.
“Now, despite the worldwide ban, each year over 30,000 elephants are gunned down and their tusks hacked off by poachers with axes and chainsaws. If Tanzania and Zambia are successful in exploiting the loophole, this unpleasant trade could get much worse and we have a one-off chance this week to extend the worldwide ban and repress poaching and trade prices before we lose even more elephant populations,” it stated. “Across the world’s cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being wiped out.”
On Tuesday, Zambian tourism and environment minister Catherine Namugala defended the proposal, saying it would enable the country use benefits accruing from the sale of elephants for national development.
Namugala said the application to down list Zambia’s elephant population would have no negative impact on elephants.
“Zambia’s proposal to down list the elephant population is based on findings of a comprehensive assessment that showed that commercial trade would not be detrimental to the survival of the elephant,” Namugala said.
Some 1,500 persons representing over 170 government, non- governmental groups, businesses and indigenous peoples are attending the triennial conference of the CITES.
Officially opening the meeting, CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers said governments had achieved many conservation successes during the 35 years of the CITES treaty but called for increased political support to meet the new challenges.
“We do not want to risk letting down the developing world in its struggle to ensure that trade in wild fauna and flora is conducted legally and sustainably,” Wijnstekers said.
The proposal by Zambia and Tanzania, which was filed on November 17, 2009, seeks to ‘transfer the population of the African elephant, from Appendix I to Appendix II’ of CITES.
Because Appendix I species are considered to be ‘threatened with extinction,’ and trade is only permitted in exceptional circumstances.
However, if the African elephant is moved to Appendix II, species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but could be if trade is not controlled since avenues for trade will likely be opened up.
AVAAZ is an international civic organisation that promotes activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, and religious conflicts.
Tanzania has poor ante-natal record
thecitizen.co.tz/By Beldina Nyakeke/22032010
Only 46 per cent of women about to deliver in Tanzania are attended by skilled attendants, according to a report.
It was availed to journalists who were attending a one-day media seminar on 15 years after Beijing held in Dar es Salaam last weekend.
Officials of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which organized it, said Tanzania has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
The report noted that a positive change in national laws and policies could create an enabling environment and strengthen the national capacity for comprehensive as well as quality health services.
It said some cultural beliefs, practices and inadequate information may have a negative impact on reproductive health.
Therefore, it suggested, government, non -governmental and faith-based organizations should make joint efforts to assist communities achieve cultural sensitive behavioral change. This is apart from them improving existing laws and policies.
The report said a third of deaths related to pregnancy and child birth can be avoided if women who want to plan their childbearing have access to family planning services.
It explained that everyone, including couples, has a right to plan his/her family according to the number, spacing and timing of children.
Presenting a paper on the Beijing action plan’s implementation status in Tanzania, the director of gender and development from the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children, Mr Meshack Ndaskoi, said the government covered four areas among 12 adopted from the Beijing Platform of Action.
These are: Enhancement of women’s legal capacity, economic empowerment of women and poverty eradication, women’s political empowerment and decision making as well as women’s access to education and employment.
However, Mr Ndaskoi said challenges still remain to attain objectives due to budgetary constraints, involvement of men in reproduction as well as gender inequalities in decision making and access to resources at household levels.
Meanwhile, journalists have been urged to avoid gender insensitive reporting to provide coverage that reflects the world through the eyes of both women and men.
The advice was given by Professor Mwajabu Possi from the University of Dar es Salaam.
She said the use of appropriate language and images in the media will give a more accurate reflection of the audience and positively affect people’s awareness over time.
She said journalists can play a vital role in changing attitudes to women and gender-based stereotypes.
CONGO RDC :
KENYA :
ANGOLA :
Angolan government to decree reduction in price of land
macauhub /2010-03-22
Luanda, Angola, 22 March – The Angolan government is preparing a decree that will set the cost of land across the country in order to allow real estate promoters to offer lower prices, the Minister for Urbanism and Construction said Saturday in Luanda.
Moments before leaving for Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), where he will take part in the 5th World Urban Forum, José Ferreira said that overall real estate projects were still priced high which needed to be corrected with the introduction of some measures.
“One of the issues that people are concerned about is that the price of land is still quite high, and thus we are working on defining a single figure for the country in order for real estate promoters not to have to base the price of the house on the high price of the land,” he noted.
The minister also said that it was fundamental to have a greater supply of housing for prices to go down and added that, as part of the government programme to boost housing, houses had well-defined prices, both the low cost houses and medium-income houses.
Also as part of the programme, Ferreira said that protocols had been signed with four real estate companies, which would allow for construction of 150,000 houses in the first instance, as well as the self-construction programme that will be driven by the sale of urban plots and kits to the population.
The 5th World Urban Forum, held in Rio de Janeiro, aims to discuss the role of governments in ensuring that the right of the poor are respected as they make up the majority of city dwellers.
Namibia honours KK
www.daily-mail.co.zm/22032010
FORMER President Kenneth Kaunda was on Saturday presented with national honours for his contribution to the struggle for freedom in Namibia.
Others honoured, posthumously, were Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Angola’s first President, Dr Antonio Agostinho Neto and former president of the ANC in South Africa Oliver Reginald Tambo.
This was during an official gala dinner held at the Hotel Safari in Windhoek to honour leaders who contributed to the freedom of Namibia.
Heads of state present at the occasion included President Banda, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Nigerian former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, Seychelles’ Vice-President Joseph Belmont and Finland’s former President Martti Ahtisaari.
Namibian President-elect Hifikepunye Pohamba said his country is grateful for the support and dedication the country received from progressive forces and friendly countries during the freedom struggle.
President Pohamba said the freedom to which the selfless leaders contributed has opened new windows of hope for the people of Namibia.
He said Namibia is committed to the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral co-operation with Africa and international organisations.
President Pohamba said the country will also continue to play its role in the Southern African Development Community to accelerate the integration agenda in the region.
He said it is imperative for Africa to establish strategic partnerships to address challenges facing the continent.
President Pohamba said Africa must engage the international community as a united front to effectively advance its interests.
He said Africa must also do everything possible to remove the stigma attached to the continent as a place of poverty, disease and hunger.
President Pohamba said Africa must unite with one voice in confronting the challenges posed by globalisation. – ZANIS.
ANGOLAN ENERGY MINISTER TO HIGHLIGHT INVESTMENTS AT IPAD MEETING IN MAY
news.brunei.fm/2010/03/22
NAM NEWS NETWORK Mar 22nd, 2010
LUANDA, March 22 (NNN-ANGOP) — Angolan Energy Minister Emanuela Vieira Lopes and the State Secretary of Industry, Kiala Gabriel, will highlight the investments and partnerships in the industrial and energy sectors in Angola during a meeting of the Infrastructure Partnership for Africa’s Development (iPAD) to be held here in May.
According to a press statement received by ANGOP here Sunday, a team of government officials and experts will address potential investors at the event, which is aimed at facilitating contacts for business opportunities.
Subjects such as “Opportunities for investment and partnership for the development of Angola’s industrial sector”, “Development of regional co-operation and contribution for Angola’s growth” will be high on the agenda of the meeting. — NNN-ANGOP
SOUTH AFRICA:
AFRICA / AU :
Bharti shares rise on Zain Africa deal hopes
economictimes.indiatimes.com/REUTERS/22 Mar 2010
MUMBAI: Shares in Bharti Airtel rose on Monday morning on hopes Bharti is heading towards a smooth landing in its $9 billion deal talks to buy
Kuwaiti telecom Zain’s African operations. Bharti said on Sunday it had tied up the entire financing requirement of $8.3 billion, with major international banks committing to underwrite the amount, in a sign of progress as the deadline for exclusive talks with Zain expires on Thursday.
Bharti did not say how much interest it was paying for the loans, but banking sources have said the company was getting around 200 basis points over Libor, lower than initial talks of more than 300 basis points. “The acquisition seems to be on the right track,” said Harit Shah, a sector analyst with Karvy Broking. “But at this level, I won’t be comfortable buying this stock.
It has risen so much in the last one month. The deal will certainly be EPS dilutive.” By 0436 GMT, Bharti shares were up 1.6 percent in a weak market, after rising as much as 2.2 percent, and turned positive for the year. At its high on Monday, the stock was up 18 percent since Feb 16, when it had fallen to its lowest level in nearly a year.
The share was the second-worst performer in the 30-stock BSE index in 2009 and was among the only two stocks to have given negative returns even as the benchmark jumped 81 percent.
TALKS DEADLINE LOOMS
Bharti’s talks with Zain mark the third time the Indian firm has tried to get its hands on a meaningful African business after two failed bids for South Africa’s MTN. It has been hunting for emerging market assets as its home turf becomes fiercely competitive and call charges plummet in the world’s fastest growing mobile market.
Bharti and Zain also look to have cleared a potential stumbling block over ownership of Zain’s assets in Nigeria, that is 65 percent owned by the Kuwaiti firm. A source told Reuters last week Bharti might put part of the purchase price in an escrow account to protect it from potential problems such as that in Nigeria.
The unit is a crown jewel, without which Bharti would not close the deal. In Kuwait, Zain said its due diligence process was on schedule and that work on final deal documents could take place after its board meeting on Wednesday. The source also told Reuters last week Bharti was aiming to meet the March 25 deadline, though there was a chance of one or two days slippage in the actual deal being announced.
StanChart Names Shankar CEO of Middle East, Africa (Update1)
March 22, 2010/By Kelvin Wong/Bloomberg
(Adds pretax profits in third paragraph.)
March 22 (Bloomberg) — Standard Chartered Plc, the London- based bank that makes most of its profit in emerging markets, appointed V. Shankar as chief executive officer for the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Europe.
Shankar will be based in Dubai and replace Gareth Bullock, who is retiring, according to a e-mailed statement today. The appointment will take effect May 1. He joined the bank in 2001 from Bank of America Corp. after 19 years, the statement said.
The Singaporean will become Standard Chartered’s most senior executive in the Middle East, the bank said. Pretax profit in the Middle East and southern Asia fell 44 percent to $366 million in 2009, according to the company. Hong Kong and India are Standard Chartered’s largest markets by profit.
Shankar, currently group head of origination and client coverage, will become a director of the group and will report to group Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands, the release said.
–Editor: Joost Akkermans, Brett Miller
UN /ONU :
World Cup can boost fight against racism, says UN human rights chief. .
Monday, 22 March 2010 /www.solomonstarnews.com
The following statement has been issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March 2010)
“The forthcoming Football World Cup in South Africa provides an opportunity both to take a fresh look at the issue of racism in sport, and to enhance sport’s tremendous potential to undermine racism, xenophobia and similar forms of intolerance in wider society.
“The symbolism of the 2010 World Cup taking place for the first time ever in an African state, and specifically in the country which was for so many years a byword for institutionalized racism, is important.
It is also a factor in the choice of this year’s sports-related theme for the International Day for the Elimination against Discrimination, the date of which – 21 March – marks the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, when dozens of peaceful demonstrators, protesting against the ‘pass laws’ of the apartheid regime were killed by the South African police.
“Racism within sport remains a problem in many countries and many sports, and I urge sports administrators everywhere to follow the example of two of the world’s top football authorities, FIFA and UEFA, in devising serious campaigns to eradicate it from sport at all local, national and international levels.
“In recent years there have been a number of disgraceful incidents in football stadiums when fans of one team have abused footballers of opposing teams on the basis of their race.
FIFA rules allow for the deduction of points where clubs have not taken sufficient action to combat racism and similar forms of bigotry, but national leagues often shy away from applying these rules.
“The same goes for national teams. On occasions, rich clubs and rich national bodies have escaped with derisory fines of a few thousand dollars after serious racist incidents during matches.
I urge FIFA, UEFA and national football authorities everywhere to back their strong rhetoric with serious and consistent disincentives, including stadium bans, and point deductions.
Until they do so, the admirable goal of eradicating racism in football will not be achieved.
“Despite the continuing problems still confronting football, it must be recognized that the sport has, in a number of countries, been engaged in a serious decades-long struggle against racism which has produced significant achievements, with the help of some excellent NGO initiatives and the active participation of a number of influential star players.
“On the pitch, the sight of players from diverse racial backgrounds is now the norm in many countries. Players belonging to racial minorities now fill all positions in the team, including those perceived as being more “strategic,” from which they were formerly largely excluded.
However, although they are also increasingly entrusted with team captaincy, minorities are still disturbingly under-represented at the managerial level.
“The role of sports in changing attitudes towards racism is potentially immense – especially sports like football which attract huge and passionate live and TV audiences.
I sincerely hope that the 2010 World Cup will not only be a successful and joyous event in its own right, but that it will also stimulate further sustained effort to eradicate racism from sport, and through this powerful vector help extend more positive attitudes towards minorities and migrants to society at large.”
UN Security Council holds small arms flow to Central Africa under microscope
congoplanet.com/Xinhua/ March 22, 2010
As the most profitable market for arms smugglers, it comes as no surprise that Africa suffers the largest number of causalities from conflict, the United Nations chief of drugs and crime told the Security Council on Friday.
Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Antonio Maria Costa told the 15-nation Council that most weapons are shipped through commercial channels from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to Africa, fueling almost every conflict on the continent.
During an open-door session of the Security Council, members debated illicit trade in arms in Central Africa, one of the regions hardest hit by the phenomenon of small arms and light weapons.
Costa singled out Ukraine as being a “major” arms supplier for Africa. “There are 54 firearms for every Ukrainian soldier … and a surplus of large planes,” said Costa. “Add low regulation and high economic insecurity, and you get an environment where merchants of death can make millions.”
A Ukrainian ship, for example, hijacked by Somali pirates in Sept. 2008 ironically uncovered an illegal shipment of ammunition that was intended for South Sudan, not Kenya, as the export certificate said. Once a shipment of weapons or ammunition makes it to its final destination, it is often battered for drugs or natural resources, said Costa.
“Arms trafficking and organized crime fuels conflicts and vice- versa,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who was in Moscow, Russia this week for the Quartet meeting, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro welcomed the recent steps taken by Central African countries towards a subregional system to monitor small arms.
The move is the first step towards drafting the sub-region’s first legally binding instrument on the control of small arms and light weapons, ammunition and explosives, she said. On April 26-30, negotiators will work on the instrument’s first draft at the 13th ministerial meeting of the UN Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“The decisions and actions by the Standing Advisory Committee are of great significance in tackling the tools of violence, designing ways to improve sub-regional security, and creating the necessary conditions for sustainable development,” said Migiro.
Changes in govt alters UN’s plan for Nigeria – The Guardian
March 22, 2010/ by Bunmi Awolusi /nigerianbulletin.com
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan’s dissolution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has forced the United Nations (UN) to change some of its plans towards Nigeria and postpone the visit of its Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Francis Deng, to Nigeria.
The UN had last week hinted of Deng’s trip to Nigeria to work out ways with the Federal Government on how to avert genocide in Jos, Plateau State.
Deng, who also spoke on his job at the weekend, described it as tough but assured that “it is achievable.”
In a statement from his office in New York, Deng, who is already in West Africa, said: “I am tasked with an impossible mandate that must be made possible.”
USA :
Bharti ties up $8.3-bn fund for Zain buy
Monday , Mar 22, 2010 /www.indianexpress.com
Bharti Airtel said on Sunday said the entire financing requirement of $8.3 billion for its proposed acquisition of Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain’s Africa operations has been successfully tied up. Bharti said the financing was oversubscribed, with major international banks committing to underwrite the total amount.
The acquisition is expected to be announced by March 25. The company said the amount tied up is a term facility, both in US dollar and Indian rupee with tenure just below five years. However, it declined to share the cost of the loan.
Bharti said for the $7.5-billion financing, the mandated lead arranger (MLA) and lead advisor is Standard Chartered Bank.
Barclays will be its MLA and joint lead advisor. The SBI Group is the MLA and lead onshore advisor. Other MLAs and co-advisors are ANZ, BNP, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Agricole CIB, DBS, HSBC, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
In addition to the US dollar financing, SBI Group have committed up to $1 billion equivalent in Indian rupee to Bharti which would also cover any associated transaction costs.
Global investment house KSCC is serving as its regional financial advisor.
As reported by FE, the Bharti Airtel board had met on Saturday to discuss the financing plans. Sources said the company is now confident of concluding the deal by March 25, the day the two sides have set for concluding their exclusive talks.
In response to an FE query, the company’s spokesperson said, “While we cannot comment on the cost of the loan, we believe the financing is priced competitively, reflecting the credit profile and standing of Bharti Airtel and supportive market conditions”.
Once Bharti acquires Zain Africa, it would get access to 42 million new subscribers spread over 15 African countries.
Bharti had valued Zain Africa at $10.7 billion but after deducting the company’s net debt of $1.7 billion, had said that its total payout would be $9 billion (around Rs 44,000 crore). The two sides have agreed that of the $9 billion, $700 million would be payable a year after the deal is announced, thus the immediate payout from Bharti’s end would be $8.3 billion.
CANADA :
Community leaders reaffirm commitment to fight racism
ALEX BOUTILIER /FOR METRO HALIFAX /www.metronews.ca/March 22, 2010
Pews were filled at the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church yesterday as community members, police officers, and elected officials came out to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Halifax Regional Police Chief Frank Beazley was on hand to reaffirm the force’s commitment to improve race relations within the municipality.
“March 21 marks the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, where peaceful demonstrators against Apartheid were wounded and killed,” said Beazley. “Halifax Regional Police publically … declares our intention to work towards the elimination of racism in co-operation with all persons in the community we serve.”
Const. Anthony Sparks addressed the congregation after Beazley. He said HRP has made and will continue to make race relations a priority in policing.
“I am currently employed with an organization that focuses on diversity and race relations, that has made deliberate attempts to bring back the idea of community policing,” said Sparks. “This helps encourage officers to change their attitudes, their perspectives, their behaviours towards citizens and the way they do police work.”
But Sparks noted that racial discrimination is not an issue specific to HRM or the HRP.
“The elimination of racial discrimination is not a local issue, but a global concern as well,” he said. “Whether we live in Halifax, Nova Scotia or Sharpeville, South Africa, racial discrimination affects us emotionally, psychologically, as well as spiritually.”
Mayor Peter Kelly, who was on hand for the service, said while HRM still faces many race-related challenges, he feels the municipality has made positive strides.
“Racism has no place in our community,” said Kelly. “No community is perfect, we strive to do better each and every day … we continue to make sure that all voices are heard, and we’re working together for the betterment of the community.”
AUSTRALIA :
Roadshow: FLASH goes the red-light camera
By Gary Richards/www.mercurynews.com/Posted: 03/22/2010
Q Millbrae might be a bit north of your regular beat, but there’s a perplexing intersection that I’d like explained.
Roland Dumas
San Mateo
A Sheesh, there’s no place too far for Roadshow. In recent weeks I’ve handled questions from Papua New Guinea, Armenia, South Africa, Australia, New York City, San Diego and Alviso. So fire away.
Q Millbrae Avenue at Rollins Road, which is west of Highway 101 and adjacent to the large BART parking facility in Millbrae, has a full complement of red-light cameras. When cars enter the intersection on a red light, they get their picture taken and a flash goes off. The problem is that the flashes go off randomly and frequently. When absolutely nobody is running lights, flashes are popping off, sometimes almost strobe-like, with three or four in rapid succession. They even go off when there is absolutely nobody in the intersection. During the day, it’s a curiosity. During the evening, it’s distracting and startling. Clearly, the flashes are being triggered by something other than red-light runners. What’s so flash-worthy?
Roland Dumas
San Mateo
A I field more questions about cameras at this intersection than any other in the Bay Area. Six different approaches are monitored here. On all six, speed sensors are buried in the pavement near
the limit line. When a driver passes over the sensors at around 8 mph or faster, and the light is either red or about to turn red, it triggers the cameras to take two photos — thus two flashes — and a 12-second video. This is because anyone going that speed at this point is deemed unlikely to be able to stop in time.
The sensors cannot tell the cameras not to flash. If a vehicle passes over the sensors, reaches the limit line and stops, photos are still taken, even though the driver has done nothing wrong. The same is true if the driver stops a foot or two beyond the limit line, and Millbrae police are more tolerant of this than some jurisdictions. All photos and videos are reviewed, and drivers who stop in time will almost always have their tickets tossed out.
If two vehicles from two different approaches pass over the sensors at 10 mph and then stop, there will be at least four flashes, even though there are no cars in the intersection.
If something goes wrong, the entire system is programmed to shut itself off, eliminating the possibility of a camera malfunctioning. But there’s another reason cameras can seem to go off randomly. Read on.
Q One morning a few of us commuters were stopped at the red light on Union City Boulevard and Lowry Road when the light turned green and the car in front proceeded to cross the intersection with me right behind it. Then lights from the red-light cameras started flashing. There were about six cars in the two lanes, and they must have had their pictures taken. Are we liable for a red-light ticket? Obviously it is a camera malfunction.
Dave Lau
Fremont
A And….
Q Recently while on El Camino Real in Millbrae I had a left-turn green arrow entering an intersection. While making my turn, the green arrow went to yellow. Immediately I saw a bright flash in my eyes. I said to myself: “That better NOT be a red-light camera!” Am I going to get a bogus running a red light ticket in my mail? I have an excellent driving record, except for one instance about a year ago when caught for not wearing a seat belt (I was fastening it when I drove by a CHP officer, so I was guilty).
Ramon Ortiz
San Mateo
A Rest easy. Unless they malfunction, cameras go off only when the light is red. The fact that you saw a flash could mean that a vehicle near you ran the red light, or the camera was being tested for maintenance reasons. Cameras are tested at least once a day.
Q With all this emphasis on red-light cameras, will they require front plates now? A lot of people still drive with rear plates only.
Donald J.
A Front plates are required on all vehicles. Drivers lacking a front plate will still be caught, as cameras snap a photo or video the front and rear of the car.
Q How long does it take to get a ticket in the mail after being photographed by a red-light camera at Bascom Avenue and at San Tomas Expressway and Saratoga Avenue? “… I may be getting a citation for running into a red light at Central Expressway and Bowers Avenue in Santa Clara. I can see from Google maps that there seem to be some cameras in this intersection. “… I see cameras on Capitol Expressway near Eastridge, where I admit I ran a red light. When will the ticket come to me?
Charles Hunter, Barbara Falguera, Pat Hanson and more
A Never. Everyone in Santa Clara County, rest easy. Those cameras are to make traffic lights work better and are not to nab red-light runners. San Jose will test red-light cameras later this year, becoming the only city in the county to use them. Cupertino had red-light cameras years ago, but it stopped its program because it cost more money than the city was taking in.
World Cup travellers urged to get flu jab
Monday, March 22, 2010/www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk
World Cup fever is mounting but health bosses are urging travelling Lincolnshire football fans to make sure it is the only fever they go down with.
Fans travelling to South Africa in June should be vaccinated against swine flu to not only stop them from catching the virus but to prevent them from bringing home, says NHS Lincolnshire.
The Department of Health is urging everyone travelling to the southern hemisphere – where it is now autumn and flu season will begin shortly – to be immunised.
Kevin Shaw, clinical surveillance and assurance manager at NHS Lincolnshire said they have no idea how many travellers will take up the H1N1 vaccine ahead of travelling to the southern hemisphere.
“The H1N1 vaccination will now be available to people travelling to southern hemisphere countries.” Mr Shaw said.
“This part of the world is entering its influenza season and vaccination will help to reduce the risk of travellers bringing the virus back to the UK.
“We would encourage people travelling to this area to take up the vaccination before they travel. “GP practices continue to hold a supply of the H1N1 vaccination for travellers and at risk groups.”
The NHS announcement has caused surprise to county football fans planning their trip to the World Cup.
Lincoln businessman and football fan, Dave Kay, 50, said: “I knew I need some boosters but I thought it would be more typhoid than swine flu,” he said.
“I’m glad I know now as am going to see the practice nurse about injections so I’ll ask her about swine flu while I’m there.”
Unconfirmed- Rio executive Hu pleads guilty to bribery Breaking News
By Paul Wallis/www.digitaljournal.com/22032010
On the first day of his trial, after much tear jerking from the Australian media and government, Rio executive Stern Hu has reportedly pleaded guilty to charges of bribery according to Reuters/AP/Bloomberg.
The report comes from “a lawyer involved in the trial”. It’s not yet official. Hu was also accused of offering inducements to obtain information, which China considers industrial espionage. The admission of guilt, if true, is a fait accompli. There’s no basis for legal challenge if a guilty plea is entered.
The definitions of industrial espionage may vary between countries. Hu is said to have attempted to obtain details of Chinese steel mills and mines. That’s considered legitimate market information in other countries. In China there’s a few problems with the process if obtaining that information includes offering nearly a million dollars Australian for it.
China is extremely sensitive about corruption at all levels of society. Corrupt Chinese officials are routinely shot. The current leadership, in fact, has spent much time and effort trying to clean up the official act in the last 5 years. This incident is hardly likely to win Rio many friends at top levels of government.
Xinhua doesn’t have any confirmation of the report at the time of writing. What it does have, however, is a story which seems to indicate Rio and China are still talking business. Rio and Chinalco have just signed a joint venture deal in West Africa. Rio’s CEO Tom Albanese was in Beijing today holding a seminar with Chinese business major leaguers to help get the relationship moving again.
The admission also leaves the Australian mining industry looking rather awkward. It’s been a particularly messy diplomatic situation and protestations of innocence have been thick and fast since Hu’s arrest last year. China has been maintaining a stony silence regarding the various representations of the Australian government and Rio regarding Hu. Diplomatically, the standoff has now been justified.
The industrial espionage part of the trial is to be held in closed session. No plea regarding these charges has apparently been recorded yet, but this is a particularly serious charge.
EUROPE :
The United States of East Africa
Monday, March 22, 2010 /by Patrick Gathara/www.afrika.no
Like most other currency unions, East African Monetary Union is a political enterprise. That in itself is not a bad thing. London-based economist, Dr Gerard Lyons, observes that politics was the driving force behind European monetary integration —which, despite the problems with Greece, has been fairly successful.
According to Dr Lyons, historically there have been four types of monetary unions. One is where political union has ensured the monetary union’s success. Examples include German Unification at the end of the last century; the longer lasting Italian Monetary Union that followed political unification in 1861; and the US Federal Reserve, established in 1913 as a decentralised system.
A second category comprises monetary unions of small countries that survive without political union, provided there has been economic convergence. Two examples are the 1923 Union between Belgium and Luxembourg and the CFA Franc zone in West Africa, which has survived since 1948.
In a third category, the survival of the monetary union is completely dependent on that of the political union. The original East African shilling is a good example of this. Others include the Soviet system, and the 19th century German Monetary Union, which collapsed with World War 1.
A final category is a temporary monetary union that survives for a long time without political union but eventually collapses. The Latin and Scandinavian Monetary Unions from the last century are examples.
So where does East Africa’s Monetary Union project fall? According to Barrack Ndegwa, Director of Economic Affairs at Kenya’s Ministry of East African Community, the EAC is based on an intergovernmental model of regional integration. The process of integration is led and directed by the partner states’ governments, especially their Heads of State through the Summit, the EAC’s highest decision-making organ. There is no supranational body, such as the EU’s Commission, to which some sovereignty is delegated.
The net effect is that political will matters most and personal or political disagreements between leaders threaten both the EAC and the Monetary Union -the same condition described in Dr Lyons’s third category. We have not taken lessons from the failure of the first monetary union. What should we be doing differently?
Well, the book Economics of Monetary Union by Paul de Grauwe recognises that a monetary union must be embedded within a political union to work well. However, in describing what such a political merger should look like, the book emphasises the need for “a certain degree of budgetary union, giving some discretionary power to spend and to tax” to a central executive body, subject to full democratic accountability.
According to Augustine Lotodo, a member of the East African Legislative assembly, proposals to turn the Secretariat into an EU-type Commission, as well as to make the East African Legislative Assembly into a properly representative and elective body along the lines of the European Parliament, are already being discussed. However that does not go far enough.
To fulfill de Grauwe’s condition, the Secretariat will need to be endowed with budget-making and tax-levying powers, the EA parliament’s ambit and power expande and a mechanism for the implementation and enforcement of decisions devised.
Currently, Tanzania’s 42 million citizens are represented by 9 MPs in the East African parliament, the same as Rwanda’s 10 million. Burundi, with just 3 per cent of the region’s GDP, makes the same EAC contribution as Kenya, which accounts for 40 per cent. Lotodo says that equal representation in the EALA and contribution to the Secretariat’s budget will have to be replaced by representation and contributions reflecting members’ population and economy. This is bound to create tensions as the bigger countries seek to assert themselves. A mechanism would thus have to be found to cater for the interests of the smaller nations.
The East African Court of Justice will also need to have its jurisdiction similarly extended and partner states stripped of the power to constrict it as they did in 2006 when, after the court granted an interim injunction barring the swearing-in of the Kenyan nominees, the Summit decreed urgent amendments, passed in record time, to the EAC Treaty to clip the courts wings. That must never be allowed to happen again.
More interested in protecting their positions and woolly notions of “sovereignty,” politicians will probably be unwilling to cede power to the Secretariat. However, de Grauwe offers them some comfort. Though the book highlights the need for common institutions to regulate local social policies that may have regional macro-economic consequences, there is no requirement that decision-making in these areas be fully centralised. Even the transfer of budgetary power, for example, “does not have to be spectacular… It would certainly not be wise to aim at a central budget that comes near to the size of typical national budgets.” Nevertheless, it will require an EAC budget that increases significantly from its 2009 level of about $40.1 million or 0.05 per cent of the region’s GDP.
De Grauwe’s most relevant finding for the EAC is the requirement for “a strong national sense of common purpose and an intense feeling of belonging to the same nation.” Analysing the success of German Unification in the 1990s, he declares this to be “the deep variable that made the monetary and political union possible.” Its presence, he asserts, made it “inconceivable” that Germany start with a monetary union without a unified political system. Its weakness among the nations of Europe, he continues, “makes the progress towards political union difficult… [and] explains why Europe started with monetary union.” The same is true of East Africa.
Kenya is a particularly egregious example. Of all the EAC partner states, it is the only one where the ratification of international agreements is done by the Cabinet. This means that neither the people nor their representatives have ever had a voice on the subject of integration. Parliament never got to vote on the EAC Treaty nor on any of the protocols that followed.
Since EAC legislation takes precedence over national laws, it in effect means that Kenyans now find themselves subject to regulations and authorities that are not accountable to either them or their representatives. This may not yet be considered controversial (national consultations in 2007 and 2008 found that despite low levels of awareness, large majorities in all partner states, including Kenya approved of political federation), but it does little to foster a feeling of ownership of the Community and the processes that generate it.
This is not a uniquely Kenyan issue. In fact, a study last year found that one-third of East Africans had only a weak or no sense at all of being “East African.” In 2004, when the Summit instituted the Wako committee on Fasttracking Political Integration, it was the “slow pace of integration” that caused the leadership to remember the people — a tacit admission that popular participation was lacking.
Attitudes, though, are slowly changing. Last year, The EastAfrican reported that the partner states are to establish integration centres at border points to sensitise the citizenry on the benefits of regional assimilation and that Kenya’s EAC Ministry will use mobile phones to educate up to 17 million people on the Common Market Protocol. It is also planning to hire a public relations firm as part of what Naim Bilal, Deputy Di
rector of Public Communications, calls a “broad-based and comprehensive strategy” to communicate the benefits of integration to the people.
Welcome as they are, such measures are only of limited benefit. To be sustainable in the long term, the EAC must evolve into a truly independent and powerful union of peoples -a United States of East Africa- rather than a loose association of regional governments. Till that happens, the Monetary Union and the Community it is meant to serve will remain as fragile as the political will that created them.
CHINA :
Chinese, Namibian Presidents Exchange Greetings on Anniversary of Ties
2010-03-22 / Xinhua Web Editor: Jiang Aitao /english.cri.cn
Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Namibian counterpart Hifikepunye Pohamba exchanged congratulatory messages Monday to mark the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.
“Over the past two decades, the political mutual trust and cooperation in various fields between the two countries have been greatly strengthened thanks to frequent high-level exchanges between China and Namibia,” Hu said.
The two nations also showed mutual understanding and support on major issues of common concern, and coordinated closely on international and regional affairs, he said.
Hu expressed his willingness to deepen traditional friendship and practical cooperation between the two countries, which are in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and will serve to promote the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership.
“China is ready to work with Namibia to push bilateral relations of friendly cooperation to a new high,” he added.
In his message, Pohamba said that during the last 20 years, bilateral relations between Namibia and China have developed intensively with enormous strides, with more frequent exchanges of high-level visits and increased trade and investments.
The two countries also “witnessed closer economic and technological partnership, increase in educational and cultural cooperation, and good coordination on multilateral issues,” he added.
Pohamba also reiterated Namibia’s adherence to the one-China policy, and his country’s support for China’s efforts in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity to achieve its reunification.
On the same day, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also exchanged greetings with his Namibian counterpart Marco Hausiku.
Tanzania, Zambia demand one-off sales of ivory
By MICHAEL CASEY / Associated Press/www.forbes.com/ 03.22.10
DOHA, Qatar — Tanzania and Zambia on Monday requested a U.N. conservation meeting to weaken the ban on African ivory so they can sell off their own stocks, despite criticism that they are failing to crack down on rising incidents of poaching.
A counter proposal at the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species by Kenya and six other African countries is to halt what limited international trade in ivory is currently allowed and declare a 20-year moratorium on any attempts to relax international trade controls on African elephant ivory.
Ivory sales have in recent years been among the most contentious proposals at CITES and this time around African countries, and even some environmental groups, are divided. The ivory would be sold to China and Japan, the only countries permitted by CITES to purchase it.
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring group, tracks ivory seizures and found that poaching and smuggling to markets mostly in Asia has risen steadily since 2004. They blame weak law enforcement in Africa and growing demand for ivory products like chopsticks and ivory jewelry mostly in China, Thailand and other Asian countries.
“TRAFFIC is concerned about the prospects of further ivory sales given the current high levels of elephant poaching and the continued lack of action against illegal domestic ivory markets in parts of Africa and Asia,” said Steven Broad, executive director of the wildlife trade monitoring conservation group TRAFFIC’s executive director.
Africa elephants have seen their numbers drop in the past 40 years by more than to 600,000 mostly due to poaching. A global ban on the ivory trade in 1989 briefly halted their slide. But conservationists said that poaching now leads to the loss of as many as 60,000 elephants each year. Without intervention, the elephants could be nearly extinct by 2020.
Tanzania is asking to sell almost 200,000 pounds (90,000 kilograms) of ivory. It noted in its proposal that its elephant population has risen from about 55,000 in 1989 to almost 137,000, according to a 2007 study.
Zambia, meanwhile, wants to sell 48,000 pounds (21,700 kilograms) of ivory. Zambia says its elephant population of 27,000 is steadily increasing.
Tom De Meulenaer, the elephant expert for CITES, said last week the organization endorsed a conclusion by a panel of experts that Zambia had conservation measures in place to allow the sale, while Tanzania had poaching in several parts of the country and remained a transit point for illegal raw ivory shipments.
INDIA :
Bharti Airtel Ties Up $8.3 Bln. Loan To Acquire Zain
3/22/2010/RTTNews
(RTTNews) – Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s largest integrated and the first private telecom service-provider, said it had tied up with some major international banks for the entire financing requirement of $8.3 billion to acquire Zain’s African unit–Zain Africa BV–reports say.
In addition to the dollar-financing, the State Bank of India group has committed up to $1 billion equivalent Indian rupees to Bharti to cover any associated transaction costs.
For $7.5 billion of financing, its Lead Arranger and Lead Advisor was Standard Chartered Bank, while the Mandated Lead Arranger and Joint Lead Advisor was Barclays. KSCC, the global investment house, is the regional financial advisor.
Analysts said that the deal made sense for Bharti, as the Indian mobile market was facing tariff wars and stiff competition. Zain has over 70 million customers in 24 West Asian and African countries.
It expertise in operating a low-cost business model in India will come in handy for Bharti in other developing markets such as those Zain operates in, add the analysts.
India to Import Colombian Coal for First Time (Update1)
March 22, 2010/By Archana Chaudhary and Dinakar Sethuraman/Bloomberg
(Adds shares in sixth paragraph, output in seventh.)
March 22 (Bloomberg) — Adani Enterprises Ltd., India’s biggest coal importer, agreed to buy thermal coal from Colombia for the first time as surging electricity demand prompted diversification of purchases, an official said.
The first cargo of fuel will be imported in a capesize, a vessel that has a carrying capacity of at least 110,000 deadweight tons, the company official said, asking not to be named because of confidentiality agreements. The company is negotiating a long-term contract, he said, declining to identify the mine and provide quantities.
Colombia’s Cerrejon, the world’s largest open-pit mine producing coal for export, may make its first sales to India this year, Leon Teicher, the venture’s chief executive officer, said in an interview this month. The project started shipping fuel through the Panama Canal and on other routes to China after prices became “much better” than those in Europe, he said.
Colombian coal may land in Mundra and Dahej ports on India’s west coast because they can handle capesizes, the Adani official said.
BHP Billiton Ltd., Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc each own a third of Cerrejon, which will produce 31 million to 32 million metric tons of coal in 2010. Last year, the mine cut production because of weak demand in Europe and the U.S.
Adani Enterprises fell 2.2 percent to 469.7 rupees in Mumbai trading at 12:39 local time. The benchmark Sensitive Index was down 0.5 percent.
Global Trade
Colombian coal supplies, which account for about 10 percent of global trade, may rise by 7.7 million tons in 2010 to 71 million after falling by about 8.7 percent last year, according to a report this month by Macquarie Group Ltd.
Indian thermal coal imports surged last year to a little less than 60 million tons from about 30 million in 2008, Macquarie Group Ltd. said in a report in March. India plans to almost double electricity generation capacity by 2012, when the shortage of coal will exceed 200 million tons.
India received 6.06 million tons of coal, which is used to produce electricity and as feedstock to make steel, in February from suppliers in Australia, Indonesia and South Africa, port data showed. That compares with a monthly average of 4.9 million tons a year earlier, India’s coal ministry said.
–With assistance by Heather Walsh. Editors: Ang Bee Lin, Clyde Russell.
BRASIL:
EN BREF, CE 22 mars 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,22/03/2010
