{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 05 février 2010 – CNN- February 05, 2010–President Obama on Thursday strongly criticized controversial anti-homosexuality legislation being considered by Uganda’s legislature.
RWANDA
UGANDA
Obama criticizes Ugandan anti-gay bill at prayer breakfast
February 5, 2010/CNN
Washington (CNN) — President Obama on Thursday strongly criticized controversial anti-homosexuality legislation being considered by Uganda’s legislature.
It is “unconscionable to target gays or lesbians for who they are,” Obama said during an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast.
The measure being considered in Uganda is “odious,” he added.
The organization which sponsors the breakfast, the Fellowship Foundation, has been associated with efforts to pass the bill, according to the ethics group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The measure would punish sexual activity between persons of the same sex with long jail terms or death.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also criticized the bill during an appearance at the breakfast.
CREW had protested Obama’s appearance at the breakfast, claiming in a statement that the event “designed to appear as if government-sanctioned, actually serves as a meeting and recruiting event for the shadowy Fellowship Foundation,” also known as “The Foundation” and “The Family.”
A Ugandan legislator who introduced the bill — which has been roundly condemned by human rights groups — was scheduled to attend the breakfast before his invitation was revoked, CREW claimed.
The breakfast is held annually on the first Thursday in February. The president, members of Congress and other dignitaries regularly attend.
Members of the Fellowship Foundation could not be reached for comment early Thursday. CREW did not divulge the source of its information.
J. Robert Hunter, a member of The Fellowship who has spoken publicly about the group, told The New York Times in a story published Thursday that it was unfair to blame the group for the Uganda legislation. About 30 family members, all Americans who are active in Africa, conveyed their dismay about the legislation to Ugandan politicians, including the bill’s sponsor, Hunter said.
CREW asked Obama and members of Congress on Monday not to attend the breakfast. On Wednesday, it asked television network C-SPAN to refrain from broadcasting the prayer breakfast, or at least to properly identify its sponsor as the Fellowship.
“The Fellowship has been cultivating an unorthodox brand of Christianity amongst the political, military and economic elite of America and other countries for over 50 years, focused on meeting Jesus ‘man-to-man,'” CREW said. “The organization operates under an intense veil of secrecy, staying largely out of the public eye and hiding its donors’ identities.” Its leader, Doug Coe, has led the group since 1969, according to CREW.
The fellowship operates a residence and meeting place on Capitol Hill that has been linked to “ethically troubled” politicians, including Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, the ethics group said.
“The president and members of Congress should not legitimize this cult-like group — the head of which has praised the organizing abilities of Hitler and bin Laden — by attending the breakfast,” Melanie Sloan, CREW executive director, said in a statement.
Uganda Approves Tullow Purchase of Two Heritage Stakes, WSJ Says
By Chris Peterson/Bloomberg/Feb. 5
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — Uganda approved Tullow Oil Plc’s acquisition of stakes in two oil fields owned by former partners Heritage Oil Plc, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Peter Lokeris, junior minister for energy and minerals.
Tullow, which exercised first refusal to buy when Heritage attempted to sell the stakes to Italy’s Eni SpA for as much as $1.5 billion, will have to allow its shares to be traded on Uganda’s stock market and make a commitment to speed up commercialization of the country’s oil reserves, the newspaper said.
China National Offshore Oil Corp. may be brought in as a partner, the WSJ said, citing an unidentified local Tullow official, adding that the proposal included construction of a refinery and a pipeline to the east African coast.
Congressional Resolutions Condemn Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill
By On Top Magazine Staff / February 05, 2010
Both chambers of Congress have introduced resolutions that urge the Uganda Parliament to dump a proposed bill that that ups the penalties for being gay in a country where it is already illegal.
California Representative Berman L. Howard introduced his resolution on Wednesday. The resolution has attracted 38 co-sponsors, including openly gay representatives Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado.
Last year, Uganda lawmaker David Bahati introduced the bill that includes a death penalty provision for people who repeatedly engage in gay sex and those who are HIV-positive. The bill also bans the “promotion of homosexuality,” which would effectively outlaw political organizations, broadcasters and publishers that advocate on behalf of gay rights.
The House measure expresses U.S. opposition to the bill and calls on the secretary of state and the president to “impress upon the Ugandan government the U.S. belief in the human dignity of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation.”
Both Secretary Clinton and President Obama criticized the proposal on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast.
“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are – whether it’s here in the United States or as Hillary [Clinton] mentioned more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda,” Obama said.
Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a similar measure on Thursday.
In addition to urging the Uganda Parliament to reject the anti-gay bill, the resolution also “urges all countries around the world to reject and repeal similar laws that criminalize homosexuality, and encourages the United States Department of State to closely monitor human rights abuses that occur because of sexual orientation,” according to a statement released by Feingold’s office.
TANZANIA:
CONGO RDC :
Cast Member Dana Ellis Speaks About “The Vagina Monologues”
by Leia Poritz/buquad.com/ February 5, 2010
As it says on The Vagina Monologues’ Facebook event page:
The Vagina Monologues is a painfully funny, movingly poignant, and socially eye opening discussion of the international female experience. The show is simple: 16 monologues about all-things-vagina, based on activist Eve Ensler’s interviews with over 200 women. You will laugh, you will wince, you will be angry, and hopefully you will leave inspired.
About the cause:
V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works.
Each year V-Day increases awareness by focusing on a specific group of women in the world who are resisting violence with courage and vision. In 2010, V-Day’s Spotlight Campaign will once again highlight the atrocities being committed against the women and girls of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
To get an insider’s point of view about the show, I interviewed Dana Ellis (SED ’11), a cast member in this year’s performance.
Why did you decide to try out for “The Vagina Monologues”?
Last year I was a TA [Teaching Assistant] and one of my students told me she was in the show, so I wanted to go out and support her. I loved the performance so much that I had decided that I definitely wanted to be part of the next one and had been eagerly waiting to try out all year.
Are guys allowed to audition?
You are only allowed to audition if you identify as female, meaning you either have to be biologically female or transgender. This year, our whole cast is female—everyone has a vagina—but in the past, that has not always been the case. We have a piece called, “They Beat the Boy Out of that Girl,” which is about transgender women. This year, biological females pretending to be transgender are performing it, but transgender females have performed it in the past.
What is your role in the performance?
I’m a narrator, so I open up the show along with two other girls. We introduce each character throughout the show.
What have you gotten out of your experience?
I have made some great connections with some unbelievable girls. I’ve learned more about myself, of women as a gender, and topics within feminism that society feels are taboo, but that we are able to perform on stage.
What social taboos do you think “The Vagina Monologues” helps disrupt?
Things such as rape, genocide, tampons, and female orgasms that people are afraid to talk about. Even the word “vagina”—vagina is a word we were taught never to say out loud. Instead, people give nicknames to vaginas, such as pussycat, coochie snarcher, labbe, poonani, mushmellow, gladys segalman, paradise land, blossoming flower, and mo’nique. One name that we wanted to add to the show, but we thought too obscene, was bearded ham wallet.
How does “The Vagina Monologues” make people aware of the violence against women and bring courage to women?
Each monologue discusses a different experience that Eve Ensler wants to highlight, and the themes included have some of these topics in them. More important is the annual spotlight piece that talks about the Democratic Republic of Congo. The piece discusses the experience of a 15-year-old girl who was a sex slave for two years for a soldier from her own country. This piece talks about how she survived the dramatic experience.
The show is extremely provocative in order to help the audience be more comfortable with the topics. Although it’s funny, it’s funny in a sad way—people are laughing about things women have to endure because of their vaginas.
The show really is amazing, how it touches upon all women—lesbian women, straight women, mothers, 6-year-old girls, 72-year-old women…
What is your favorite part of “The Vagina Monologues”?
My favorite part of the show is the cast piece called “Wear and Say,” which is about what your vagina would wear and say. It’s hysterical.
As for the experience, my favorite part is the bonding sessions. We make it a point during rehearsals to just stop and play a bonding game, such as different icebreakers. Although we are all from very different backgrounds—different cultures, values, majors—we find that we have so much in common, and that a lot of it is bonding over the show.
“The Vagina Monologues” 2010 will take place on Friday, February 19th at 7:30pm, and Saturday, February 20th at 2:00pm and 7:30pm in the Law Auditorium. Tickets will be sold at the GSU Link from February 16th-19th and at the door for $8. All proceeds go towards helping the girls at the DRC. Not only do these girls need emotional therapy, but also physical help to deal with the abuse and rape that they have been through.
KENYA :
Obama’s Kenyan aunt Zeituni Onyango allowed to stay in U.S. while deportation battle continues
BY Beverly Ford /DAILY NEWS WRITER /February 5 2010
BOSTON – President Obama’s Kenyan aunt gets to stay in this country a little longer while her deportation battle continues.
An immigration judge on Thursday heard two hours of testimony from Zeituni Onyango, 57, and gave lawyers until mid-March to file written arguments.
Onyango entered court in a wheelchair with a cane across her lap. She smiled, but didn’t speak to reporters. Doctors also spoke on behalf of Onyango, who has said she suffers from Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Obama hasn’t intervened for his aunt, who was found living in a housing project here in 2008. She came to the U.S. in 2000 and was ordered out in 2004 after an asylum request was rejected, but she did not leave.
“She really wants to stay in America,” said her lawyer, Margaret Wong.
Kenyan Activist ‘Demands War on the Corrupt’
A leading member of Kenyans for Democracy and Justice, a civil rights organization says the government lacks the political will to root out graft despite repeated promises.
Peter Clottey/www1.voanews.com/05 February 2010
| Washington, DC
A leading member of Kenyans for Democracy and Justice, a civil rights organization says the government lacks the political will to root out graft despite repeated promises.
Okia Omtata said there is need for President Mwai Kibaki’s government to show seriousness towards fighting corruption.
“I think they are trying to pull the wool over our eyes because President Kibaki has been in power for a long time. He was elected on the platform of fighting corruption (but) he has done nothing to dent or dismantle the infrastructure of corruption,” he said.
Kenya’s media reports that President Kibaki will meet senior government officials Friday to ‘review and take stock’ on the fight against corruption. The meeting is scheduled to be held at Kenya Institute of Administration in the capital, Nairobi.
The officials include all Permanent Secretaries, parastatal heads and provincial commissioners.
But Omtata said the government has so far failed in its graft fight – – a charge supporters of the administration deny.
“To me I think that corruption resides in place (and) that is the absence of the rule of law…right now we have a major scandal in the ministry of education. The permanent secretary (PS) and the minister who should be taking political responsibility for the mess for the loss of a lot of money that will affect very many who are children are still in office. The president has done nothing. Among the people he is meeting today is the PS for education…so what is he going to tell him about corruption?” Omtata said.
Recently, the United States ambassador Michael Ranneberger announced the suspension of a $7 million “capacity building” program for Kenya’s Ministry of Education, citing corruption.
According to media reports President Kibaki is scheduled to give a new look into the fight against graft.
Last year, President Kibaki instructed all PSs to take action against all public officers involved in corruption.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga is also expected to address today’s meeting.
Omtata said the government has not dealt decisively with alleged corrupt government officials
“I’m saying that the president…has appointed very many commissions of inquiry. They have done reports he has never released those reports. They handle those reports to him at elaborate ceremonies these people have spent a lot of money. These are reports that are public documents (but) he locks them up in his shelf. He doesn’t want these things to be known,” Omtata said.
Political observers say the United States, Britain and other major donor governments have recently become increasingly vocal in their criticism of corruption and the slow pace of reform in Kenya.
ANGOLA :
SOUTH AFRICA:
South Africa’s Mobile Rates Proposal ‘Wrong in Law’ (Update1)
February 05, 2010/Bloomberg/By Nicky Smith
(Adds Icasa final say in sixth paragraph.)
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — A South African parliamentary committee said an agreement between the nation’s three mobile- phone operators on proposed cuts in interconnection rates that was presented to the industry regulator is “wrong in law.”
“The practical effect of the proposed agreement will be to tie the hands of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and to prevent it from discharging its lawful responsibilities,” the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications said in an e-mailed statement from Cape Town today. The operators are Vodacom Group Ltd., MTN Group Ltd. and Cell C (Pty) Ltd.
The government is demanding cuts in the interconnection rates, which are the third-highest in the world. The Department of Communications wanted the rates at 60 cents a minute by the end of 2009. In their most-recent proposal, the operators offered to cut rates to 89 cents a minute during peak times from 1.25 rand, while off-peak rates would remain at 77 cents a minute. They also asked that these rates be locked in until 2013.
Icasa rejected the proposal, saying the operators “sought to bind the Authority” not to review rates until 2013.
The Minister of Communications Siphiwe Nyanda ordered Icasa in October to implement a directive for operators to cut rates to levels that reflect costs associated with carrying each other’s calls. Icasa expects to issue regulations on cost- reflective interconnection pricing by June. The industry does not favor a regulated rate for call termination.
Icasa’s Call
“The precise rates and timeframes should rightfully be determined by Icasa,” the committee said in the statement.
“The Authority is committed to releasing draft regulations on the effectiveness of competition in the wholesale call termination market in March 2010,” the regulator said on Feb. 1. “It is hoped that the outcome of these regulations will be a reduction in call termination charges” and “fair and equitable access to existing networks for all licensees,” it said.
Vodacom Group today said it will work with the regulator to reduce its interconnection rates by March.
“We support the initial reductions next month, and will work with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to achieve this,” the Johannesburg-based company said in an e-mailed statement. “We also fully support the ongoing regulatory process and trust that Icasa will swiftly finalize the regulations in this regard.”
–Editors: Vidya Root, Robert Valpuesta
South Africa’s President in the dog house
Andrew Geoghegan / www.abc.net.au/ Friday, February 5, 2010
SHANE MCLEOD: South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma isn’t having a good week. After days of media speculation he’d fathered a child out of wedlock, the President has been forced to admit he’s having an affair.
He’s taken leave while the scandal rages but he’s also savaged the country’s media for publicising what he regards as a private matter.
Africa correspondent Andrew Geoghegan reports.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: Jacob Zuma’s private life was a hot topic in South Africa long before he became President. As a Zulu traditionalist he practises polygamy and currently has three wives and 19 children.
But when news broke earlier this week that the 67-year-old is having an affair with a woman almost three decades his junior and that they’ve had a baby together, the media went into overdrive.
NEWSREADER: A newspaper report that President Jacob Zuma fathered a child out of wedlock.
NEWSREADER 2: Leaders at the ANC’s (African National Congress) headquarters are harping mad. They’ve labelled newspaper reports that suggest Zuma has fathered a child out of wedlock as an unjustified attack on the President.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: Unsurprisingly South Africa’s opposition parties have led the criticism of the President’s behaviour.
Patricia de Lille of the Independent Democrats.
PATRICIA DE LILLE: Yes his private life is his private life but he must also consider the impact of his private life on the messages that his government is sending out, especially to deal with the pandemic of HIV and AIDS.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: More than five million South Africans have the AIDS virus. The Reverend Kenneth Meshoe says the President’s sexual conduct is undermining the Government’s safe sex campaign.
KENNETH MESHOE: The President must practice what he preaches. If you tell the nation that use condoms, use, have safer sex, you also must do it.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: The governing party, the African National Congress, leapt to its leader’s defence claiming that the media had no right to question or even publicise details of Zuma’s private life.
Julius Malema is the head of the ANC Youth League.
JULIUS MALEMA: We are Africans and sitting here all of us, Zuma is our father. So we are not qualified to talk about that.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: Four days after the scandal broke Jacob Zuma finally issued a statement admitting that he was an affair that resulted in the birth of his 20th child. But he then launched a scathing attack on the media for being disrespectful.
Jacob Zuma has taken leave, no doubt hoping the scandal will blow over.
This is Andrew Geoghegan in Johannesburg for AM.
South African Stocks: Anglo American, BHP, Gold Fields, Impala
February 05, 2010/By Janice Kew/Bloomberg
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index fell the most in more than five months, losing 608.10, or 2.3 percent, to 26,318.36.
The following were among the most active stocks in the South African market today.
Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ), the diversified mining company that makes up almost 11 percent of South Africa’s benchmark stock index, slumped 15.80 rand, or 5.4 percent, to 276.70 rand, its biggest decline in more than five months. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL SJ), the world’s largest mining company, lost 8.60 rand, or 3.7 percent, to 223 rand. Copper for delivery in three months slid as much as 3.2 percent to $6,380 a metric ton in London, extending yesterday’s 3.3 percent drop. Lead, zinc and aluminum prices also fell.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG SJ), Africa’s largest gold producer, dropped 11.88 rand, or 4.2 percent, to 269.12 rand. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI SJ), Africa’s second-largest, slid 5.70 rand, or 6.4 percent, to 88.30 rand, extending yesterday’s 2 percent drop. The precious metal declined 3.1 percent to $1,074.90 an ounce, heading for its biggest drop in two months. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, climbed to a six-month high, eroding the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment. Separately, Gold Fields said it expects production to drop to 850,000 attributable ounces in the third quarter.
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP SJ), the world’s second- largest platinum producer, retreated 11.36 rand, or 5.6 percent, to 191.15 rand, paring its 7.2 percent gain in the previous two days. Larger rival Anglo Platinum Ltd. (AMS SJ) fell 35 rand, or 4.8 percent, to 700 rand. The metal used in clean-emissions technology by carmakers slumped as much as 3.2 percent to $1,524 an ounce.
Imperial Holdings Ltd. (IPL SJ) rallied 5.30 rand, or 6.4 percent, to 88.30 rand, its biggest advance in more than three months. The owner of a chain of auto dealerships said annual earnings would rise from the year-earlier period.
Pioneer Foods Ltd. (PFG SJ) dropped 1 rand, or 2.5 percent, to 38.50 rand, the biggest decline in almost two weeks. Macquarie Group Ltd. cut its recommendation on the maker of Weet-Bix cereal to “underperform,” citing the 195.7 million- rand ($26 million) fine imposed by competition authorities for price-fixing.
Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ), the world’s biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, fell the most in almost seven months, dropping 12.99 rand, or 4.4 percent, to 280 rand. Crude oil declined for a second day after a U.S. Energy Department report yesterday showed a bigger-than-forecast increase in inventories as refineries idled units and imports climbed.
–Editor: Ana Monteiro.
Mitsubishi, South Africa Study Cooperation on Nuclear Project
February 05, 2010/By Carli Lourens/Bloomberg
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan agreed to work with South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Ltd. to “explore cooperation” and the possible construction of a mini nuclear reactor.
“The parties will negotiate to identify a project or projects with the potential for possible cooperation,” Pebble Bed Modular said in a statement on its Web site today. Sasol Ltd., the South African motor-fuels producer, is a potential customer, MHI said on its Web site.
The future of PBMR is being reviewed by the government in co-operation with its owner Eskom Holdings Ltd., Pebble Bed Modular said in response to queries last month without providing further explanation. Eskom earlier canceled a plan to build a large nuclear power plant because of lack of funding.
Tom Ferreira, spokesman for the PBMR, didn’t immediately respond to a message left on his mobile phone today.
–Editors: M. Shankar, Dan Weeks.
AFRICA / AU :
Vaccine to Protect Pregnant Women from Contracting Malaria?
ScienceDaily/Feb. 5, 2010
— Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have become the first in the world to synthesize the entire protein that is responsible for life-threatening malaria in pregnant women and their unborn children. The protein known as VAR2CSA enables malaria parasites to accumulate in the placenta and can therefore potentially be used as the main component in a vaccine to trigger antibodies that protect pregnant women against malaria. The research team is now planning to test the efficacy of the protein-based vaccine on humans.
The hope is that within 10 years all African girls could be vaccinated against maternal malaria, thereby preventing more than 200,000 deaths a year.
Each year, 25 million pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa run the risk of contracting malaria. Women who have become infected with malaria parasites during their first pregnancy are at considerable risk of severe anaemia and significant impairment of foetal growth. The malaria parasites accumulate in the placenta, resulting in children being born prematurely and underweight. These women are also at greater risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal malaria is the cause of death of between 100,000 and 200,000 newborn babies and 10,000 women each year.
“The malaria research group discovered the protein VAR2CSA, which is responsible for malaria parasite binding in the placenta, in 2003,” says Associate Professor Ali Salanti from the centre. “The aim is to produce a vaccine based on VAR2CSA which elicits antibodies that stop the parasite from binding to the placenta. The challenge for us has been to produce the entire protein in the laboratory, as it is very large and so technically complex. Now that we’ve managed to do this, we’re a big step closer to developing a human vaccine, as we can already test it as a vaccine in animals.”
“In collaboration with scientists at The Tanzanian National Institute for Medical Research, we’ve tested the antibodies that were produced in the laboratory on a number of malaria parasites from pregnant women in Tanzania,” says Professor Thor Theander from the centre. “These antibodies seem to be effective at preventing the parasite from accumulating in the placental tissue. The next step is to investigate whether we can elicit the same antibodies and so protect against the disease by vaccinating humans. Then the vaccine will be a reality.”
The Centre for Medical Parasitology (CMP) at the Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen is an international leader in malaria research. With more than 70 employees, the centre is one of the largest malaria research units in the world and a leader in the development of vaccines. The centre’s work is partly funded by Danish and international foundations, including the Gates Foundation.
The discovery is presented in the latest issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology J Mol Biol. 2010 Jan 25.
Anglo American, AngloGold, Sasol: South African Equity Preview
February 05, 2010/By Nasreen Seria/Bloomberg
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.
South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index fell the most in more than five months, losing 608.10, or 2.3 percent, to 26,318.36.
Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ): The mining company’s shares were rated as “buy” in new coverage at Citigroup Inc. Anglo fell 15.80 rand, or 5.4 percent, to 276.70 rand.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG SJ): Gold fell the most in 14 months yesterday as the dollar’s rally reduced the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment. Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,064 an ounce today. AngloGold, Africa’s largest producer of the precious metal, fell 11.88 rand, or 4.2 percent, to 269.12 rand.
Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): Crude oil traded near $73 a barrel after falling yesterday as an increase in U.S. jobless claims raised concern fuel consumption may be slow to recover and a stronger dollar reduced demand for commodities. Sasol, the world’s biggest producer of motor fuel from coal, fell 12.99 rand, or 4.4 percent, to 280 rand.
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) fell 6.6 percent to $17.82. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) slid 3.5 percent to $35.59. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) dropped 5.5 percent to $57.93. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) fell 5 percent to $5.54. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) slumped 6.7 percent to $11.14. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) dropped 5.8 percent to $9.33. Impala Platinum Holdings Co. (IMPUY US) declined 7.5 percent to $24.85. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) slumped 5.2 percent to $4.02. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) plunged 6.9 percent to $36.07. Telkom South Africa Ltd. (TLKGY US) dropped 5.1 percent to $17.30.
–With assistance from Janice Kew in Johannesburg. Editors: Alastair Reed, Antony Sguazzin.
Ethiopia never bans Eritrea to take part in AU deliberations: Jean Ping
Source: Xinhua / February 05 2010
African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Jean Ping said on Thursday that Ethiopia has never banned the Eritrean government to establish mission in Addis Ababa.
Ping said he has received a letter from Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, requesting to bring to the attention of the 14th AU ordinary session that Eritrea’s inability to establish a mission to the AU in Addis Ababa.
In his replay letter to the Eritrean minister, Ping clearly stated that Ethiopia should never been accused for Eritrea’s denial using its rights to take part in AU deliberation.
Ping said the commission has discussed the issues with the government of Ethiopia at highest level and has accepted a categorical assurance that the Eritrean government is free to establish a mission to the AU in Addis Ababa.
The chairperson said Ethiopia has never banned Eritrea from AU sessions and in other deliberations in Addis Ababa.
In international practice, he said, countries which do not have relations with the United States. but have missions to the UN are carrying out their diplomatic missions.
The chairperson indicated that the former chairperson had also informed Eritrea that it has the right to participate in AU sessions in Addis Ababa.
Ping referred terms conveyed by the former chairperson to the Eritrean government that its mission will be accredit only to the African Union, will not have or carry out bilateral activities and the staff will operate from Addis Ababa only where the AU headquarters is located.
The chairperson clearly stated that Ethiopia assures the necessary entry visa and security of any Eritrean delegation.
Ping said Eritrean foreign minister’s letter and AU’s reply were circulated among delegates of the AU members during the 14th ordinary session.
The chairperson called on the Eritrean government to establish its mission to the AU and attend AU meetings convening in Addis Ababa without delay or hindrance.
UN /ONU :
USA :
U.S. Probes Toyota’s Prius Brakes Amid Recall Reports in Japan
February 05, 2010/By Angela Greiling Keane and Makiko Kitamura/Bloomberg
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius hybrid car is under investigation by the U.S. Transportation Department for reports of defective brakes in its 2010 model, adding to recalls and safety questions facing the world’s largest automaker.
The department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 124 reports from consumers, including four saying crashes occurred, with two “minor” injuries, according to the investigation document.
Toyota said yesterday for the first time it may recall the latest version of the Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid car, in Japan after the Japanese government ordered an investigation of its braking system.
“We are considering some kind of measure to take,” Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said by phone today. “We would like to make an announcement as soon as an action has been decided upon.”
Nikkei English News reported today that Toyota will recall 270,000 Prius cars in the U.S. and Japan, without saying where it got the information. NHTSA hasn’t received confirmation of a recall yet in either country, according to a U.S. Transportation Department official.
Mike Michels, a spokesman for Toyota’s U.S. sales unit in Torrance, California, said a U.S. recall “is not confirmed.” He said he isn’t authorized to comment on decisions made in Japan.
Almost 8 million Toyota vehicles have already been recalled worldwide for defects leading to sudden acceleration. Trouble with the Prius would tarnish the reputation of what the company has called its flagship model.
‘Loss of Faith’
“It would be more than just a loss of faith if Toyota were to recall the Prius; it could be humiliating,” said Ian Fletcher a London-based analyst at IHS Global Insight. “The Prius is a very prominent vehicle, it appears to underpin Toyota’s future strategy.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Toyota President Akio Toyoda talked “late” on Feb. 3, according to a statement from LaHood yesterday. Toyoda “reassured” LaHood that the company “takes U.S. safety concerns seriously and puts safety at the top of the company’s priorities,” according to the statement.
“Safety is our top priority,” LaHood said in the statement. “We will continue to monitor these issues closely.”
The conversation, which LaHood had requested, lasted at least 15 minutes and was the first between the two since Toyota expanded an accelerator pedal recall this month, said Olivia Alair, a Transportation Department spokeswoman.
‘Safety Issues’
“They did not discuss the Prius specifically,” she said. “It was broadly about Toyota’s commitment to safety issues.”
Toyota shares have dropped 21 percent, wiping out $33 billion of the company’s market capitalization, since the carmaker announced a recall of 2.3 million U.S. vehicles on Jan. 21.
The stock rose as much as 2.1 percent to 3,350 yen in Tokyo trading today, after Toyota forecast yesterday a return to annual profit. The shares traded at 3,325 yen as of 9:46 a.m.
The automaker expects net income of 80 billion yen ($894 million) in the year ending March 31, compared with an earlier forecast for a 200 billion yen loss, it said in a statement in Tokyo yesterday.
Market Value
Toyota predicted sales of 503,000 vehicles in North America in the three months ending March 31 even as the carmaker has been forced to take its top-selling models off the U.S. market. Global recalls of almost 8 million vehicles due to reports of unintended acceleration will dent demand by 100,000 vehicles and cost 100 billion yen, the company said.
The carmaker has accounted for the costs of announced recalls in its forecast, Senior Managing Director Takahiko Ijichi told reporters in Tokyo yesterday. The estimate doesn’t include a possible Prius recall.
“There’s a huge possibility that Toyota won’t meet this forecast,” said Koji Endo, managing director of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo. “The recalls will damage their reputation and if they widen, there will be costs which Toyota has not yet taken into account.”
The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker is examining 77 Prius complaints in Japan and eight in North America, spokesman Takanori Yokoi in Tokyo said yesterday by telephone. Driver complaints include brake failure or weaker braking while driving on bumpy roads, according to a list posted on the Web site of Japan’s Transport Ministry and to the U.S. NHTSA.
‘Cooperate Fully’
The automaker “will cooperate fully with NHTSA’s investigation,” Toyota said yesterday in a statement. “This condition is not related to either the floor mat entrapment recall or the sticky pedal recall currently in action.”
The carmaker said yesterday it had received complaints about Prius brakes through dealers starting in the last few months of 2009. Toyota changed the design of the brake software at the end of January, the company said. The carmaker is also examining HS250h and Sai hybrid models and considering steps dealers can take for current Prius owners, including exchanging some parts.
The brake complaints aren’t related to the incidents of sudden acceleration in the U.S., Takeuchi said.
“I admit that Toyota may have been lax in our judgment” regarding customer expectations, Managing Officer Hiroyuki Yokoyama said in Tokyo yesterday.
Rising Sales
Toyota posted net income of 153.2 billion yen in the three months ended Dec. 31, the biggest profit in six quarters, as government tax cuts and rebates in its largest markets helped automobile demand recover from a global recession. The result compared with a loss of 165 billion yen a year earlier.
Vehicle sales in the quarter rose 12.4 percent to 2.065 million, led by gains in North America and Japan. Revenue increased 10 percent to 5.29 trillion yen.
The company raised its forecast for global vehicle sales in the year ending March 31 to 7.18 million from an earlier prediction of 7.03 million. The prediction of 503,000 vehicle sales in North America this quarter compares with 642,000 in the previous quarter and 334,000 a year earlier.
A recall announced last month to fix defective gas pedals covers 2.57 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, 1.71 million in Europe, 80,000 in China, and 180,000 in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Separately, Toyota has recalled 5.35 million U.S. vehicles because of floor mats that could jam accelerator pedals.
Toyota has said 2.1 million cars were recalled for both mat and accelerator-related problems.
–With reporting by Andreas Cremer in Berlin, Tetsuya Komatsu in Tokyo and Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles. Editors: Larry Liebert, Patrick Harrington
CANADA :
Global platforms equal global woes for Toyota
By JEWEL GOPWANI/FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER/Feb. 5, 2010
Toyota’s recall of multiple models that started in the United States and Canada has stretched around the world to Europe, Israel and South Africa.
That’s one consequence of automakers’ efforts to build several models around the world off one architectural platform.
Toyota and Honda have led the way in using the same underpinnings and common parts across vehicle lines. Almost all of the automakers’ North American-made vehicles are built off of global platforms.
The trend has spread because using the same parts allows automakers to cut down on engineering costs, and reduce complexity and variability among models, which ideally improves quality.
James Ricci, director of Grant Thornton advisory services, said Toyota probably wouldn’t have the scale of recall issues it has today if it didn’t build multiple models on the same platforms. But automakers that are trying to reduce complexity and increase their presence in global markets, have no choice, he said.
“The scale to compete in this industry dictates global platforms.” Ricci said.
By 2014, 64% of North American production from General Motors and Ford is expected to be from global platforms, compared with 10% for GM and 6% for Ford today, according to a report from Grant Thornton.
More common parts means higher volumes for suppliers.
The window of opportunity to win business on these high-volume platforms is short, Ricci said.
By this time next year, Ford and GM will have hired suppliers to make parts for models that will be built on increasingly consolidated platforms.
Winning business on these models will be essential to maintaining strong business with GM and Ford, Ricci said.
Woven into the fabric of their lives
By T.J. Banes/ www.indystar.com/ February 5, 2010
The tradition of quilting has a long history among African-American women, who used the art form for self-expression, to form close friendships and for comfort during difficult times.
Here are a few highlights of the tradition:
» The earliest quilts not only incorporated skills and techniques of various regional groups but also religious, cultural and aesthetic experiences. Colors and the sizes of the shapes distinguished between various groups and tribes.
» African-American quilters were the first to deviate from symmetrical patterns. They believed that evil spirits traveled in straight lines, so they mixed up their designs.
» During slavery years, members of the Underground Railroad would use quilts to send secret messages. Log cabin quilts made of black cloth were hung to mark “safe houses” of refuge. Some quilts marked “escape routes” out of a plantation or a county. Others marked the “stars” that would act as a nighttime map through the country to freedom. Among the popular quilt patterns are: North Star, meaning prepare to escape and to follow the North Star to Canada; Monkey Wrench, meaning to gather tools required for fleeing; Sailboat, meaning a body of water was nearby; and Bear’s Paw, meaning follow a mountain trail for food and water.
» After the Civil War, many African-American women worked as domestics or helped on small farms. Quilting was a necessity; quilters used discarded clothing and feed sacks.
» From the early to late 20th century, the Pine Cone Quilt — created from an arrangement of triangles in a circular pattern — was considered a masterpiece created by Southern African-American quilters.
» Historians believe quilting links women to their African roots — strip construction, large-scale designs and contrasting colors all reflect patterns found in parts of Africa.
Sources: University of Virginia, “African American Quilting Traditions” by Rebecca Schultz, and Womenfolk.com.
African children’s choir coming to Moultrie
www.moultrieobserver.com/Staff Reports /February 05, 2010
MOULTRIE — A children’s choir designed to raise up the next generation of Africa’s leaders will be performing at Heritage Church tonight, Feb. 5.
The Watoto Children’s Choir will be performing at 6:30 p.m. at the church’s worship center. There is no charge to attend the event, and an offering will be taken for the Watoto Childcare Ministries.
Watoto means “The Children,” and these children are on a mission. Through their inspirational songs and compelling stories, the Watoto Children’s Choir is spreading a message of hope for Africa’s children.
The goal of Watoto is to raise the next generation of Ugandan leaders by pursuing excellence in academic and practical skills, integrity in conduct and moral values, so that each child becomes a responsible and productive citizen. Watoto is currently caring for more than 1,600 parentless children by providing physical, emotional, educational and spiritual care.
Since 1994, the Watoto Children’s Choirs have toured internationally as ambassadors for the orphan children of Uganda bringing a message of hope to countries such as Australia, Canada, Europe, USA, South Africa, Brazil and Israel. “Concerts of Hope” inform people of Watoto’s vital work and afford audiences the opportunity to participate in restoring hope and dignity to some of Africa’s most needy children.
Each child in the choir has experienced tremendous personal tragedy, having lost one or both parents in the African AIDS crisis or other calamities. Now through their music and dance, they share Watoto’s vision of “Rescue a Child, Raise a Leader and Rebuild a Nation.”
The choir’s music and multimedia presentation is a soulful fusion of gospel and contemporary African style. Dressed in colorful costume, the children’s enthusiastic song and energetic dance has moved audiences world-wide.
The Watoto Children’s Choir was started in 1994 by Gary and Marilyn Skinner, who had served as missionaries in Uganda and founded the Watoto Church in response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
AUSTRALIA :
Darwin out of Africa as DNA project charts migration
DEBORAH SMITH /www.smh.com.au /February 5, 2010
IT IS a family history that would make Charles Darwin proud.
A DNA study has revealed the father of evolution was a descendent of people who left Africa about 45,000 years ago.
After migrating north into the Middle East, Darwin’s ancient ancestors then headed west into Europe about 10,000 years later.
There, these Cro-Magnon men came head to head with the Neanderthals, driving them to extinction.
As the Ice Age worsened they retreated to sunnier climes in the south-west before repopulating Europe about 12,000 years ago.
This journey through time has been traced using DNA from Chris Darwin, a great-great-grandson of Charles, who lives in the Blue Mountains.
An analysis of Mr Darwin’s Y chromosome, carried out as part of the Genographic Project, which is tracking the migratory history of humans, has shown he belongs to a male lineage called Haplogroup R1b.
Mr Darwin, a guide and adventurer, said he was excited to discover his own deep ancestry, which his famous relative would also have shared. ”It has given me an insight into who I am,” he said.
It has also confirmed that everyone today is part of ”one big family” that emerged in Africa about 200,000 years ago.
He speculated his great-great-grandfather, who first proposed that all humans evolved from common ancestors, would have been fascinated by genetic technology that could look back to the origins of our species. ”I [also] think he probably would have breathed a sigh of relief that he basically got it right.”
Spencer Wells, the director of the project, which has collected DNA from more than 50,000 indigenous people and about 350,000 paying members of the public worldwide, admitted it would have been surprising if Charles Darwin had not been in Haplogroup R1b.
It is the most common European male lineage, with about 70 per cent of men in southern England belonging to this group. ”But it is about the whole journey,” said Dr Wells, whose male ancestors also took the same route as the Darwin men.
The project, a partnership between National Geographic and IBM, has collected DNA from about 70 Aborigines.
Lesley Williams, an Aboriginal woman from Queensland, who is in Haplogroup P, can trace her female lineage back to the people who left Africa about 60,000 years ago, reaching Australia about 50,000 years ago.
”It’s amazing. It’s blown me away,” Mrs Williams said.
Dr Wells said their work had also thrown light on much more recent events, such as the legacy left by the Crusaders.
EUROPE :
CHINA :
Africa: ADB to Bridge Continent/China Cooperation
Amaka Agwuegbo/ Vanguard/ allafrica.com/5 February 2010
President of African Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Donald Kaberuka, has said the African Development Bank is poised to be an important bridge to further deepen and improve the mutually beneficial cooperation between Africa and China.
Pointing out that though China’s experience could not be transplanted directly to Africa, Donald Kaberuka, who is on a four-day official visit to China, at the invitation of China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, said cooperation between China and Africa is welcomed by both sides, especially as China has been an active member of the ADB since it joined the African Development Fund (ADF) in 1985.
Kaberuka noted that vigorous efforts are being made to implement Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s proposals on exploring new ways to further Sino-African cooperation in various spheres. Wen made the proposal at the ADB’s 42nd annual board meetings in Shanghai in 2007.
Speaking on the ongoing global financial crisis and its ‘economic and development crisis’ on Africa, Kaberuka said “The African economy fell into a full recession with economic growth dropping to less than 2 per cent from its pre-crisis level of 6 per cent as both exports of raw materials and investments shrank.”
Though Kaberuka is optimistic that Africa would walk out of crisis in 2010, with the economic recovery in China, India and Europe and the growing demand for raw materials, he pointed out that South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt had done a better job to tackle the crisis by developing a more diversified economy rather than depend on the export of a single product.
“These countries have also done well in macro-economic management, resulting in steady national economic performance and relatively low deficit. Besides, they gave high priority to enhancing regional economy and trade.”
He urged other African countries to readjust their economic structures, improve economic conditions and attract more investments by opening up their markets. Kaberuka said China’s presence in Africa has a long history and friendship between China and Africa goes back to ancient times.
“I still remember China’s construction of the Tanzania-Zambia railways in the 1970s. At that time, I was a young man in Tanzania and I had traveled by the train twice. It left me with an unforgettable memory. Currently, their cooperation takes on new forms.
“In a period of 30 years, China has made great progress, improved people’s living standard and reduced the number of poor people. There are so many lessons and experiences for other countries.
“Although China’s experience could not be transplanted directly to Africa, the ADB would like to be an important bridge for their cooperation, especially in the fields of renewable energy and technology.”
The ADB president also expressed the wish to explore new ways and new forms to consolidate, strengthen and expand cooperation between both sides during his upcoming China visit. He said the ADB would like to be an important bridge for their cooperation, especially in the fields of renewable energy and technology.
China continues to scour world for resources in 2010
05 Feb 2010/news.alibaba.com
Feb. 2, 2010 (China Knowledge) – China, which spent a record US$32 billion buying natural resources last year, will likely spend even more this year as domestic demand for iron ore, copper and oil continues to grow with the economy.
The country’s refined copper demand will increase by an estimated 14.8% to 6.81 million metric tons in 2010, while iron ore imports could climb 27% to 800 million tons in 2012, according to research from Umetal.com.
This year, Chinese companies will hunt for energy assets in both domestic and overseas markets. Huang Dongmei, deputy general manager at Minmetals Exploration and Development Co, a unit of China Minmetals, said that although the asset valuation would be much higher internationally than in the domestic market, there is still potential for acquisitions abroad.
The country will likely seek energy targets in South America and Central Asia and metal targets in Africa in 2010, according to sources.
China’s economy grew 10.7% in the fourth quarter of last year, more than in any other quarter since 2007.
INDIA :
BRASIL:
South African Minister’s Wife Arrested on Drug Charges
February 5/ hometestingblog.testcountry.com
The wife of South Africa’s intelligence minister had been arrested for on the charge that she conspired to bring cocaine into the country. Sheryl Cwele, the 50-year-old wife of Siyabonga Ms. Cwele was charged with securing a woman to gather drugs in Turkey and getting another woman to smuggle cocaine from Brazil. Ms Cwele shares these charges with Frank Nabolis, a Nigerian national who was arrested in South Africa in December. For the moment she’s still in police custody awaiting a bail application hearing.
Cwele’s arrest followed that of Tessa Beetge, a South African woman who was arrested in Brazil in 2008 with 22lb of cocaine hidden inside of her luggage. Beetge was sentenced to eight years in prison for her part in the drug smuggling. Several reports linked Ms Cwele to Ms. Beetge before she went on leave in from her job as director for health and community services at the Hibiscus Coast Municipality in December. She’d returned to work and was arrested at her office before she appeared at Pietermaritzburg High Court. The National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa states that Ms. Cwele faces one count of dealing in dangerous dependency-producing drugs and two counts of incitement to dealing in dangerous dependency-producing drugs, dating back to as far back as May and June 2008. Mr. Cwele has told local media that he was unaware of his wife’s alleged drug dealings.
The Philadelphia International Flower Show is Coming to the Pennsylvania Convention Center February 28th Through March 7th.
by Bill Meagher/culturemob.com/ February 5, 2010
in Art, Community, Dance, Festival, Food, Music, Philadelphia
Journey around the globe with breathtaking stops in India, Brazil, the Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand and Singapore. See thousands of plant and floral design entries of local enthusiasts in hundreds of categories. Don’t miss on the free gardening presentations, 150 held throughout the week, as well as dozens of educational displays that explore the newest gardening trends.
Shoppers – find a bustling Marketplace with an array of take-home products to get the garden started, the official c with 2010 Show merchandise, and a World Bazaar of beautiful and exotic crafts and products.
Foodies will love the International Wine and Spirits Garden, presented by the PA Wine and Spirits Stores and the International Dessert and Coffee Bar.
Complementing the fabulous exhibits, shopping and great food will be live performances, provided by World Café Live that take audiences to Bollywood, Africa and South America.
The 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show
“Passport to the World”
All proceeds from the Philadelphia International Flower Show, including tickets and sponsorship contributions, support The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and its acclaimed urban greening program, Philadelphia Green.
Attractions
International Fun
World Bazaar – New this year – incredible international shops located on the Show Bridge. Celebrate passport to the World and take home and exotic gift!
Play your next getaway! The Philadelphia International Flower Show’s Destination Showcase exhibits are a must-see for Show-goers eager for a new adventure. Premiere travel, resort and recreation companies are featured throughout the Second Level Concourse area, providing special promotions and exclusive deals on trips and vacation packages. The World Bazaar will feature Imported Indian tapestries, Handmade Mexican pine needle baskets, jade jewelry from Burma, Chinese dragon statues, Imported Italian vinegars and oils, and more
Entertainment
With the help of Philadelphia’s renowned World Café Live, the Show will present daily performances in the Exhibition Hall that include stirring Brazilian singers and thrilling Bollywood dancers. Bring your dancing shoes for a special Samba Saturday on March 6. Entertainment will feature Bollywood dancers, and performances by Minas.
Food and Wine
Prepare your taste buds for an extraordinary experience at the 2010 Flower Show. Enjoy an elegant tea, a culinary lesson with a world-class chef, a free tasting of fine wines or uplifting spirits, and an international coffee break topped off with delicious desserts.
FREE live cooking presentations by local celebrity chefs held three times each day! From sassy Cuban cuisine to heart healthy vegetarian learn the tips and tricks from the experts.
2010 presenters will be announced in February, 2010.
The first on-site wine shop was a fantastic success at last year’s Flower Show. For 2010, the PA Wine & Spirits Stores return with a much-expanded International Wine and Spirits Garden in the magnificent Grand Hall. Excellent labels from the world’s vineyards and superb bottles of liquors and liqueurs from many lands will be offered for sale. Can’t make up your mind? Check back in February for the schedule of free tastings!
Refresh and refuel during your visit to the Flower Show at the new International Dessert and Coffee Bar. Aromatic brews and sweet dishes from throughout the world will be available on the Show Bridge.
This annual favorite of Show visitors offers a pleasant respite for you and your friends … Garden Tea at the Flower Show! Step into serene and elegant surroundings with soothing music and elegant flowers. A light and delicious menu of petit sandwiches, pastries, fruit and an assortment of fine teas will enhance your Flower Show experience.
Around Town
Each year, over 250,000 visitors come to Philadelphia for the world-renowned Philadelphia Flower Show, where they visit our sights, shops and restaurants, creating an estimated $30 million economic impact! This is a valuable opportunity for local businesses to promote themselves to Show visitors during “Flower Show Week” March 1-8, 2009.
Flower Show Week promotions include the Bloomin’ Fun Pass discount card and the Phlower Power Window Decorating Contest:
* Promote your business by creating a special offer or discount in the Bloomin Fun Pass, free to Show visitors! A virtual “key to the city,” this brochure allows visitors to enjoy our sights, shops, restaurants and hotels all week long.
* Beautify the city and attract visitors to your location as you festoon your business’s windows in fantastic flora for the Phlower Power Window Decorating Contest! Winners are chosen based on creativity, beauty and designs that adhere to the Show theme.
Exhibits
Flower Show garden display exhibitors undertake the art of forcing trees, shrubs and perennials into bloom for the Show, using temperature and lighting controls to “fool” plants into full bloom in time for the March event.
Indeed, one of the reasons the Philadelphia International Flower Show is considered the premier gardening event of its kind in the world is due in large part to the exceptional talent of these designers and their ability to exhibit such a great variety of exceptional plants for the Show.
Garden Displays
Each year, some 60 professional landscapers, florists, and horticultural and educational organizations create full-scale gardens and floral displays that delight visitors to the Philadelphia International Flower Show. These skilled designers compete for many awards, including the coveted “Best in Show” in their respective categories.
Many of these exhibitors have spent decades perfecting their craft, which often includes forcing a great variety of plants into bloom in time for the Show. Exhibitors spend an average of
18 months preparing their displays. With only one week to show off their talents, each company or organization must pull out all stops to be considered the very best.
Exhibitors are invited to enter the Show based on their all-around ability to conceive and create breathtaking displays for the nation’s premier Flower Show.
The Explorer’s Garden
This year’s presentation, “Passport to the World,” will greet guests with a 28-foot-high hot-air balloon, covered in more than 80,000 dried flowers. The Victoria-era display, filled with varieties of plants like those collected through the remarkable Wilkes Expedition (1838-42) and more recent finds from Longwood Gardens Inc., Morris Arboretum, the University of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Botanic Gardens, harkens back to the Flower Show’s roots as a showcase for new plant discoveries. Giant pads of floating Victoria water lilies and blooms introduced to America at early Shows will fill the larger-than-life Wardian cases throughout the display.
Exploration South Africa
Working with design colleagues from South Africa, the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) provides a tangible artistic presentation of the Zulu culture. Hand-thatched huts, live drummers, a chandelier of floral birds, and sculpted life-size lion and giraffe provide an enchanting entry to a walk-through display that invites visitors to inspect tribal headdresses and masks that depict the vivid colors and patterns found among the native people.
Floresta Amazônia
A small portion of the Brazilian rainforest has been transplanted in Philadelphia. Just about all of the plants being used are tropicals native to South America. Lush foliage encircles a lagoon with a seven-foot waterfall, where frolicking floral flamingoes appear under the watchful eye of a life-size puma and a hungry cayman. Angel-wing begonias, a plant that is both native to South America and easily grown in the Delaware Valley as an annual, is the one element of the rainforest visitors can grow in their own gardens. Keep an eye out for feathered friends, both imaginary and real, in this recreation of the Amazon jungle.
Flowers! The Jewels of an Indian Wedding
An Indian wedding is an unforgettable event, and this exhibit is equally memorable. With a traditional wedding canopy, life-size floral elephant, soaring palm trees, golden columns entwined with jasmine, lotus-filled pools, floral mosaics, and elaborate ropes of marigolds, this wedding scene celebrates the senses and the colorful, joyous spirit of India.
The World of Color
Flowers from around the world create a profusion of color in an exhibit with a hexagon structure. Each of its six walls is devoted to an abundance of flowers of one color. Viewers will experience the new and unusual varieties of stems used in the floral industry and the limitless combinations of using classic and extraordinary blooms together.
My Corner of the World
With the growing international concern for the health and well-being of humans and the natural environment, many people find themselves daunted by the magnitude of the challenge. Thisexhibittackles the tough issues such as growing food, maintaining clean water and air, biologically diverse ecosystems, recycling and reusing organic products, and minimizing exposure to toxins, all within a small plot of land. The display showcases solutions to global issues that fit into the average Pennsylvania backyard.
Flower Show Preview Party
Saturday, February 27, 2010
An exclusive “black tie” gala, the Preview Party is one of Philadelphia’s premier social events. Guests from all over the world enjoy this delightful celebration of the Philadelphia International Flower Show the night before it opens to the public. Sample delicious, gourmet hors d’oeuvres and cocktails while strolling through the beautiful garden displays of the Show. Afterwards, enter the Grand Ballroom to savor a divine dinner.
We invite you to join us as we honor retiring president, Jane Pepper, at the 2010 Philadelphia International Flower Show on Saturday, February 27. The Show’s theme, Passport to the World, will be a celebration of flowers and plants from around the globe, and the evening will feature a special celebration of Jane’s tenure.
By attending the Preview Party, you will enjoy a fun and elegant evening, and you will be supporting a good cause. Revenues from the Preview Party help fund the PHS’s outreach efforts including its acclaimed greening program Philadelphia Green. With more than 2,500 greening projects throughout the city, Philadelphia Green is the largest comprehensive gardening program in the nation.
Events:
Private Reception: 6 pm, Exhibit Floor—Cocktails (open bar), entertainment, and gourmet hors d’ ouevres on the floor of the Flower Show
Dinner: 8 pm, Grand Ballroom—a lavish dinner accompanied by a selection of wines.
Africa And Global Warming
02.05.2010/www.thisdayonline.com
A group called The Africa Group whose spokes person is Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi has made a demand for N30bn to be granted African countries to tackle environmental damages caused by climate change. According to the plan, the start up funding will span three years from 2010 to 2012 with yearly release of $10billion.
Mr. Menawi quite responsibly, as if reading the lips of his global audience, advised that the funding should be put in a trust fund to be administered by a group of trustees composed of equal number of donor and recipient countries. On long term financing, he proposed that this should start by 2013 to reach up to $50bn per annum by 2015 and $100bn per annum by 2020.
From the tone of the Ethiopian leader’s address, African countries expect the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change to open a flood gate of economic opportunities in terms of aid to finance their environmental ravages of floods and green gas emission.
In essence, the tap of aid which has hitherto been dry given the unfulfilled promises of G20 countries will now be plumbed to flow freely after the Copenhagen Climate Conference. This therefore means that African leaders need to be reminded of what Copenhagen Climate Conference was all about and be told in clear terms that relying on foreign aid and carrying the begging bowl at international summits, lower their human dignity and do not make for sustainable economic growth in developing countries especially in Africa.
The Copenhagen summit was about commitment from nations of the world and their leaders to the fact that the world was getting warmer and there was grave danger to its future. Scientists were able to prove that it should not get warmer than 2 degrees Celsius. To achieve this, countries gave a commitment to cut back their emissions.
According to experts from The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology “At the very heart of global warming were basic rules of physics which tell us that as levels of green house gases increase they interact with the global energy balance of the planet so as to make it warmer”.
It then went on to conclude that this last decade has been the hottest in the last 160 years and warned that if the warming continues “it would have serious repercussions not the least affecting food and water security for many regions of the world”. Needless to say, the Darfur crisis is one that bears all the indices of the consequences of global warming as it is a battle fuelled by shortage of water and grazing rights between farmers in Southern Sudan and herdsmen from the north.
That aside, the UN played a leading role in alerting the world on the danger of global warming-from the 1992 Rio Earth summit to Kyoto and the Copenhagen conference. That a consensus or agreement was not signed shows that when the chips are down, it is the world powers that call the shots and not the UN.
For selfish reasons, the two leading global economies US and China only promised but did not sign any agreement in Copenhagen. Both countries are responsible for 40 per cent of global carbon emissions. The US share of global emission is 19.9 per cent while that of China is 21.9 per cent.
The US promised to cut its emission by 17 per cent of its 2005 levels by 2020 whilst China promised to cut its own by 40 – 45 per cent in 2020 compared with 2005 levels.
Yet China gets 70 per cent of its energy from coal.
So how can it, in all reality, make such a huge cut and sustain its roller coaster economic growth which is making it the major power of the next decade? Copenhagen has clearly shown that political and economic considerations bestride and override even climate change and global warming dangers.
Whilst holding the developed counties and the G2 responsible for global emissions, African leaders should learn from the show of power that almost marred the summit.
At the end of the day, the G2 countries, US and China, joined by Brazil, India and South Africa prepared the final document and working mandate for the Copenhagen Climate Conference. African leaders should watch the direction of global governance and politics. India, Brazil and South Africa did not go to Copenhagen to ask for global aid.
Their presidents and PM joined Chinese leader Wen and US President Obama to direct the mission of the world in facing the dangers of climate change. India and Brazil have already formed an economic geo-political bloc called IBSA to help developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The IBSA countries should be a shining example for the Africa Group.
African leaders should look inward for honest, committed and thoughtful leadership and not seek to greedily make a meal of all things including even climate change.
Stena, Partner Buy Samsung, Daewoo Tankers for Brazil (Update2)
February 05, 2010/By Peter Millard/Bloomberg
(Adds Stena comments on rig talks in final two paragraphs.)
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Stena Bulk AB, a Swedish shipping company, said it is ordering four tankers from Samsung Heavy Industries Co. for $268 million to ship crude from Brazil, home of the Americas’ biggest oil discovery in three decades.
Two of the tanker orders were previously announced in January, and the option on another two will be exercised, Stena Chief Executive Officer Ulf Ryder said yesterday in an interview in Rio de Janeiro. Sonangol SA, Stena’s partner in Brazil, ordered five additional tankers from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., he said.
Stena is seeking to benefit as Brazil’s state-controlled producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA — which Ryder says is Stena’s “biggest” client — spends $174 billion over five years to boost output and develop offshore deposits. The orders are part of an effort by Stena and Sonangol, Angola’s state-run oil company, to increase their Brazil-based fleet to 25 from 15 now, Ryder said.
“Petrobras is the most aggressive oil company in the world today,” Ryder said. “Brazil is going to be the biggest in the world in offshore.”
Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras aims to more than double oil production to 5.7 million barrels a day by 2020 as it develops fields in the so-called pre-salt region, which sits off Brazil’s coast and holds oil deposits under a layer of salt. Petrobras said in 2007 that the Tupi field may have as much as 8 billion barrels of oil, the biggest discovery in the Americas since Mexico’s Cantarell in 1976.
Tanker Deliveries
Petrobras could not immediately comment on Stena’s fleet expansion in Brazil, said a spokeswoman, who could not be named because of company policy.
Samsung will deliver the four tankers to Stena in the first quarter of 2012, and Sonangol will receive its tankers in late 2011, Ryder said. All nine tankers have the capacity to ship about 1 million barrels each.
Stena picked the “best timing ever” when it ordered the tankers early this year after a global oversupply of vessels depressed prices, Ryder said.
“We have been very lucky,” he said. Separately, Samsung will also deliver a $1.14 billion drill ship in 2012 that will be used for oil exploration in the Arctic, Ryder said.
Samsung Heavy spokesman Yoon Jong Deuk said today that a deal for the remaining two tankers for Stena hasn’t been completed. Ahn Wook Hyun, a spokesman at Daewoo Shipbuilding, said nothing has been decided on any orders from Sonangol.
Tanker prices aren’t likely to fall further, Ryder said. Stena let its tanker rental contracts expire during the global financial crisis.
Rig Talks
Stena Drilling plans to bring more rigs to Brazil and is in talks with Petrobras to assemble a rig in the country with a combination of locally and foreign-made components. Stena’s DrillMAX offshore rig is currently in Brazil under a contract with Repsol YPF SA, according to Stena’s web site.
“We are in talks with Petrobras on a rig already, but they want local content,” Ryder said. “We have to see how to combine some foreign equipment with Brazilian content.”
–With assistance from Shinhye Kang in Seoul. Editors: Jessica Brice, Dale Crofts.
EN BREF, CE 05 février 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,05/02/2010
