Search Results for: South Africa

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ASSOCIATION of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed how its member governments should cooperate in the event of a major disaster, such as another Tsunami or earthquake. The international organisation, which includes such major countries as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, has approved a comprehensive deal that lays down how they should mitigate disaster damage, reducing the insurer payouts in a region increasingly interested in insurance.…

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
THE UNITED Nations (UN) is warning African countries to gear up for a possible increase in demand for male circumcisions, after the publication of a study suggesting it could significantly cut male HIV infections. The French study of 3,273 South African men showed that circumcised men were 63% less likely than uncircumcised men to be infected through sex with HIV-positive women.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
please ignore this one –

THE TREATMENT of HIV/AIDS victims in developing countries with combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased dramatically over the last two years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has claimed. In a new report, it said this more than doubled from December 2003, when 400,000 poor country citizens were being treated, to one million in June 2005.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE OFFICE International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation, has warned of an outbreak of classical swine fever in South Africa. It says 1,048 Landrace breed pigs have so far been destroyed in Worcester, in Western Cape province, in an outbreak affecting 6,500 animals confirmed by Pretoria’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) review has ruled that existing European Union anti-BSE controls on imports of bovine meat and livestock from southern Africa’s Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland are adequate and need not be changed. However, the risk of BSE contamination in Namibia is growing it said, falling in Botswana and stable in Swaziland.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
COOPERATION between the European Union (EU) and Russia will be intensified regarding constructing energy infrastructure projects of joint interest, under a detailed “road-map” approved in Moscow. Russian president Vladimir Putin, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso and EU council president Jean-Claude Juncker signed the deal, which also highlights improving the safe transport of energy products, “by pipeline, rail and sea”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend Turkey’s Tofas Turk Otomobil Fabrikasi Euro 200 million to help fund a joint venture with France’s Peugeot-Citroën and Italy’s Fiat Auto, to develop, produce and sell light vans. The loan would fund half of the project’s projected Euro 400 million cost.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has helped broker a deal with seven Balkans countries involving them reducing the environmental damage caused by their mining industries, especially regarding non-ferrous metals. Welcoming the agreement, UNEP highlighted the potential problems caused by mining for zinc, cadmium, copper, bauxite, silver and gold in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro, and (effectively independent) Kosovo.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to create a Euro 50 million loan facility to be on lent by banks in Bulgaria to individuals and households making energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The country – which joins the European Union (EU) in 2007 – is a notorious spendthrift when it comes to energy usage.…