Search Results for: South Africa

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LEBANON has an international reputation far greater than its geographical size and population, much like its national debt. At US$38 billion it is equivalent to over a 100% of the country’s GDP, with a significant chunk of this staggering sum attributed directly to corruption and commercial crime.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON
IT may never equal the four-fold rise in the price of a barrel of crude oil that took place between 1973 and 1974, but this year’s hike to more than US$60 a barrel has given all those industries dependent on the stability of fuel prices a severe shock, and the aviation industry is one of those reeling from the increases.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEW fuel quality standards for vehicles sold in the European Union (EU) from 2008 have been published by the European Commission, which will stop sports utility vehicles (SUVs) operating under laxer emissions rules applying to commercial vans. Instead, under the so-called Euro 5 plan, they would follow tougher regulations for cars.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation regional committee for Africa has declared a tuberculosis emergency in the continent, given that cases have more than quadrupled since 1990 and are killing more than 500,000 people annually. It has called on African governments to commit more resources to fight the TB and HIV co-epidemic.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MINERALS and mines ministers of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed wide-ranging cooperation plans to promote their respective mining sectors. At the first of a series of ministerial meetings, (in Sarawak, Malaysia), an ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP) 2005-2010, containing 19 actions was approved.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
RUSSIA’S remote far-east Kamchatka peninsular is something of a sacred cow for conservationists, so it is no surprise the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has undertaken a detailed environmental impact assessment for a gold and silver mine project in the region.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
A NEW tank-and-siphon system removing oil from water will soon be launched internationally. The University of New South Wales, Australia, developed, Extended Gravity Oil Water Separation (EGOWS), removes oil to below 10 parts per million, requires no power and can be used unattended.…

BY MARK ROWE
INTRODUCTION

WEATHER forecasting has evolved somewhat beyond the reliance of medieval truisms such as rain on St Swithin’s Day meant 40 more days of showers. But better weather forecasts are only any use if we are able to respond to such information accordingly and effectively.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of an outbreak of ‘Streptococcus suis’ disease amongst pigs in China, that has jumped species and caused 206 cases amongst humans, killing 38 and rendering 18 critically ill. The bacterial condition is rare in Europe and is contracted usually via cuts and grazes on people handling contaminated pigmeat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MINES and minerals ministers of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed wide-ranging cooperation plans to promote their respective mining sectors. At the first of a series of ministerial meetings, (in Sarawak, Malaysia), an ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP) 2005-2010, containing 19 actions was approved.…