{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 13 mai 2010 – The New York Times- May 13, 2010–A 10-year-old Dutch boy lay in a hospital bed, head bandaged, skin pale and legs shattered – the lone “miracle” survivor of a plane crash Wednesday that killed 103 people in the Libyan capital.

RWANDA

In the face of challenges, award honors Rwandan girls
www.unicef.org/By Misbah Sheikh/13 May 2010

KARONGI, Rwanda, 12 May 2010 – Among grazing cows in the heart of western Rwanda, three hours away from the nation’s capital, Kigali, First Lady Jeannette Kagame recently helped celebrate some of Rwanda’s most talented young students.

On 7 May, the First Lady and founder of the renowned Imbuto Foundation presented awards to 46 primary and lower-secondary school girls for excellence in their studies. With support from UNICEF, the girls received books, calculators, pens and pocket money, among other items to support their studies.

Awards for girls

While Rwanda has a high net primary school enrollment rates of about 94 per cent, with slightly more girls enrolled than boys, less that 20 per cent of children – and even fewer girls – go on to enrol in secondary school. To help girls continue their education, UNICEF has supported the First Lady’s Imbuto Foundation in recognizing over Rwandan 2,000 school girls.

“The UN, through UNICEF, is committed to continuing our support for quality education in Rwanda,” UNICEF Representative in Rwanda Dr. Joseph Foumbi said during the awards ceremony. “The government here has instituted key reforms to improve quality schooling, including abolishing school fees, training teachers, building more classrooms and beginning to bring schools up to minimum quality standards.

“We will continue to support these efforts to ensure that every child in Rwanda receives a quality education,” he added.

Overcoming barriers

First Lady Kagame launched the Imbuto Foundation in 2007 to support projects for education and welfare. Each year, she helps to present awards to hundreds of girls across Rwanda.

Speaking at the ceremony this month, the young award recipients for 2010 noted that girls have difficulty staying in school because they are often called upon to do the time-consuming task of fetching water for the family. A parent also stood up to say how hard it was for orphans – who have no means even to eat – to attend school.

But despite these obstacles, girls’ education is an essential element in Rwanda’s future success.

Rwanda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Espérance Nyirasafari, attended the awards ceremony and told girls they could accomplish anything they set their minds to do.

“When I started going to school, I had to go against a culture that didn’t promote girls’ education, where poverty was a barrier,” said Ms. Nyirasafari. “But you are so lucky that you now have a government who cares about your education. Work hard like me, succeed, and become the good citizens our nation needs.”

Hard work and support

The First Lady thanked all the girls at the ceremony for doing their best in the face of many challenges. She also congratulated parents who had adopted orphaned children and treated them as their own.

These guardian angels, as they are known – 65 of whom were singled out during the ceremony – all received a cow as an award to help them support their families.

“I am thrilled, said Charles, a 47-year-old parent from Ngororero. “I adopted four children after the genocide. They were my neighbour’s children and I have always treated them as my own and sent them all to school.”

Olive Nishimine, 16, said that her family’s support was integral to her success in school.
“I am so excited to have been able to hold the First Lady’s hand and have my country know that I have worked so hard,” she said. “My mother died when I was six and my father could not take care of my younger sister and me, so he left us with my grandparents. I’m lucky that I have an aunt who has always encouraged us to study.”

While her aunt is a teacher, Olive would like to use her talents in a different way. “When I grow up, I will be a doctor,” she smiled.

UGANDA

TANZANIA:

CONGO RDC :

China, DR Congo will probably approve joint mine deal: Zijin
Thursday, May 13, 2010/Bloomberg/www.chinapost.com.tw

SHANGHAI — Zijin Mining Group Co. said the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and China will probably approve its joint US$284 million bid to buy copper mine developer Platmin Congo once a “misunderstanding” is resolved. Approval from the Chinese government may come next month, though permission from Congo may be delayed, Vice Chairman Lan Fusheng told reporters Wednesday in Shanghai at the Mining & Asia Focus 2010 conference.
Zijin, China’s largest gold producer, and state-backed China-Africa Development Fund said May 7 they agreed to jointly acquire Platmin Congo, which holds stakes in two copper-cobalt projects. The transaction is against the law, the chief of staff for the Congolese’s minister of mining said May 9.

KENYA :

Kenya’s Co-op Bank Q1 pretax profit rises 25 pct
Thu May 13, 2010/Reuters

* Total assets up 36 percent to 122 billion shillings

Financials

* Customer deposits up 39 percent

NAIROBI, May 13 (Reuters) – Kenya’s Co-operative Bank reported on Thursday a 25 percent rise in pretax profit to 1.3 billion shillings ($17 million) for the three months ending March.

Kenya’s fourth largest bank by assets said total assets rose to 122 billion shillings from 89.7 billion, while net interest income jumped 25 percent to 1.95 billion shillings.

Co-op Bank’s net loans and advances to customers rose to 65.0 billion shillings from 55.5 billion and customer deposits rose to 100 billion shillings from 71.9 billion.

Central Bank of Kenya has said new opportunities are expected to emerge with the onset of the East African Common Market Protocol in July, which would help Kenyan banks to expand in the region.

Co-operative Bank said earlier in the year it was in the process of registering operations in southern Sudan in a 70:30 joint venture with the government there, and taking similar steps in Uganda and Tanzania. [ID:nLDE62A01G]

Many banks struggled to maintain profit growth rates last year due to the effects of the global economic slump and a severe drought which shunted recovery from Kenya’s bloody post-election crisis in 2008. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Hans Peters) ($1 = 77.75 Kenyan shillings)

Supplementary Requirements for Extension of Ifo Camp in Dadaab, Kenya and Protection Enhancement 2010
Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)/www.reliefweb.int/Date: 13 May 2010

Full_Report (pdf* format – 378,5 Kbytes)

Kenya

This submission contains the requirements for the development and extension of Ifo refugee camp, one of the three camps that make up the Dadaab refugee complex, to create additional capacity to better accommodate some 40,000 refugees. The requirements for the implementation of a Security Partnership Project to ensure a more effective management of the ongoing influx, law, safety and order in the Dadaab camps, and its surroundings, are also included. The plans, operational requirements and budgets for UNHCR’s 2010 programme in Kenya, originally included in UNHCR’s Global Appeal for 2010-2011 have been revised and updated accordingly.

The escalation of the conflict in Somalia has resulted in massive internal displacement and other humanitarian crises in Somalia, as well as sustained refugee flows into the neighbouring countries and beyond. Kenya, already host to the largest number of refugees in the region has received more than 150,000 Somali refugees and asylum-seekers since 2007. As of 31 December, it hosted some 310,000 refugees from Somalia, out a total of some 376,000 refugees. Some 262,000 refugees, 85 per cent of whom are Somali, reside in three camps in Dadaab (Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagadera) in north-eastern Kenya.

Originally established with a capacity for 90,000 people, these camps now host nearly three times that number. They are over-congested and the infrastructure in the camps, including health facilities, is in disrepair, shelter conditions inadequate and non-food items insufficient.

Services available to refugees are stretched to their limits, making protection delivery particularly difficult and living conditions unacceptable. In addition to resolute efforts to solve the problem of congestion, UNHCR is striving to address the persistence of acute malnutrition and anaemia and the growing risk of and vulnerability to disease..

Conflict with local communities resulting from shortages of basic needs, such as water in a pastoral environment also needs to be mitigated. These issues pose serious challenges to the ongoing care and maintenance efforts in the refugee camps in Kenya.

The additional resource requirements contained in this submission amount to USD 23.5 million, including USD 2 million for the Security Partnership Programme.

THE CONSTITUTION DEBATE IN KENYA
www.americanchronicle.com/Kanini Evans Kariuki/May 13, 2010

The proposed draft constitution which has caused political tension in the history of Kenya, came to a near redemption recently, when president Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Rail Odinga supported the draft amidst strong opposition from the church.

The proposed draft prepared by legal experts and unanimously passed by parliament, has now been published by Attorney General Amos Wako.

The two powerful government principles, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s initiatives aimed at ending strong opposition by the church leaders, appeared stuck in dangerous waters when men of the cloth declared that they will vote ‘NO’ when the draft comes up for referendum, unless two contentious clauses were amended.

The gravity of issues raised by the National Christian Churches of Kenya (NCCK) in the draft is the removal of Kadhi’s courts and the abortion clauses.

They argue that the continuous attempts by politicians and the media to demean and demonize Christians by refusing to amend the clauses amounted to violation of their democratic rights and other faiths in the draft.

The ‘YES’ campaigns engineered by the two government principles argue that the Kadhi’s courts and abortion clauses have existed in the old constitution since independence without christians raising an alarm for amendment through parliament, hence no haste amendments can be made before the referendum.

NCCK and the Catholic church made recommendations to parliament’s Select Committee (PSC) that life begins at conception and their submissions were properly accommodated in the draft, “but why have they taken an about turn?”, the former constitutional affairs minister Martha Karua, asked.

Matters in the debate came to a boiling point when Raila Odinga railed at those opposed to the draft, charging that they had engaged in massive competition and had acquired large tracks of land illegally, subjecting the majority of Kenyans to land losses which the new constitution would be put into check.

Raila- party leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), pointed out that the root cause of the 1992-97 tribal violences and the 2007 post-election skirmishes which left hundreds and hundreds of innocent Kenyans dead and thousands displaced, were caused by gaping clauses in the old constitution which Kenyans abhored.

The debate kicked further tension when the speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende, criticised the “No” Campaigners especially Mps from the Rift Valley province, the hotbed of tribal violence, saying they were among the legislators who unanimously voted for the new draft in parliament but had now turned around to antagonize Kenyans by opposing it.

However, a revered and razor-sharp Nairobi-based legal barrister Paul Unduso, contends that Kenyans efforts at having new constitutions, had swallowed billions of shillings in the last one decade, but pointed out that there were several gaping clauses in the Land Act that needs urgent amendments come the 2012 General elections.

Mr Unduso, who holds an LLB and Phd degrees from the University of Nairobi, wondered how such amendments would be accomplished by Parliament within the shortest time possible, and considering that the constitution holds the key to the stability of the nation, more so after the bloody 2008 post- election violence that dented Kenya’s image as an island of peace in a region wracked by civil wars.

Question– Are there faults in the new constitution to warrant rejection at the forthcoming referendum?

Answer- Definitely.

Needless to say, the contentious clauses and provisions on land have elicited a running brouhaha particularly among pockets of rich and prominent land owners and which, it is feared, could lead to property being taken away from Kenyans through the undefined method of distribution, hence “blood-shed”.

But it is sad and unfortunate that some of these so-called prominent and rich Kenyans used their powerful positions and/or connections to “rob” citizens by having huge tracts of land irregularly allocated to them. Woe unto them over this detestable malpractice!

Lawyer Unduso- known for his independent and open-mindedness, maintains that amendments should have been effected to the satisfaction of all to ensure that a non-contentious draft is subjected to the referendum.

The church is an influential institution. Its stand is justified owing to the fact that it had raised issues that went unheeded.

Lawyer Unduso asked Kenyans to read every clause and provision before the referendum so that they can vote wisely for the draft to avert possible outbreak of skirmishes similar to the one that rocked the country in 2007 in future multi-party elections.

ANGOLA :

SOUTH AFRICA:

103 dead, yet boy survives
Thursday, May 13, 2010/FROM WIRE REPORTS The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times /www.dallasnews.com

TRIPOLI, Libya – A 10-year-old Dutch boy lay in a hospital bed, head bandaged, skin pale and legs shattered – the lone “miracle” survivor of a plane crash Wednesday that killed 103 people in the Libyan capital.

Most of the victims were Dutch tourists returning from vacation in South Africa.

The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus 330 crashed as it was making a final approach to Tripoli International Airport about 6 a.m. after a seven-hour flight from Johannesburg. The weather was clear.

Little was known about the dark-haired boy, who underwent surgery for multiple fractures in both legs. The barely conscious child muttered “Holland! Holland!” after he was found, a Dutch official said. His name was not released.

Libyan TV showed the boy, one eye bruised and closed, breathing through an oxygen mask with multiple intravenous lines connected to his body and a monitor at his bedside. Doctors later said he was out of danger.

Officials had no immediate explanation for the boy’s survival. The head of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, called it “truly a miracle.”

Flight 771 was carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew members, Afriqiyah Airways said.

Sixty-one of those killed were Dutch, many of them families headed home after spending spring break in South Africa, according to the Royal Dutch Tourism Board. Authorities released no names.

The other victims were French, German, South African, Finnish, British and Libyan, according to Libya’s transport minister, Mohammad Zaidan. Many of the passengers were booked to travel from Tripoli on to other destinations in Europe.

At the scene, debris was strewn across a wide area. Workers wearing surgical masks picked through gnarled rows of seats, retrieving remains and personal items such as passports and cellphones. With the exception of the plane’s tail fin and parts of the wings, few large pieces of the plane remained intact.

Zaidan, the transport minister, said the plane’s two black boxes had been found and turned over to analysts. He said the cause of the crash was under investigation, but authorities had ruled out a terrorist attack.

Investigators from Airbus and France’s Bureau of Investigations and Analyses had arrived in Tripoli to assist Lib-yan authorities. The European Aviation Safety Agency said the aircraft had been inspected three times in recent months by the French civil aviation authority, which did not find any significant safety problems.

The Airbus A330-200 went into service in September 2009 and had accumulated 1,600 flight hours in some 420 flights, according to Airbus.

“Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the authorities responsible for the investigation into the accident,” said a company statement. “The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families.”

Flags were lowered Wednesday throughout the Netherlands, and campaigning for parliamentary elections was suspended to mourn the dead. Hundreds of people phoned emergency numbers to ask about family and friends.

“This is a large group of Dutch nationals after all, so it’s a deeply sad message we have this day,” Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said.

Prayers were also offered in South Africa. “We thank God for the sole survivor. In his survival, we see that even in this dark cloud of death, there is this ray of hope,” said the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba.

Afriqiyah Airways bills itself as a link between Africa and Europe. The nationally owned Libyan airline was founded in 2001 and flies 11 planes, all Airbus models.

It was the second crash of an Airbus 330 in less than a year. Last May, an Air France plane bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 228 people on board. The black boxes have not been found and the cause of the accident is not known.

The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times

Anglo, Reunert, Simmers, Trans Hex: South Africa Stock Preview
May 13, 2010/By Franz Wild and Garth Theunissen/Bloomberg

May 13 (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 rose 664.25, or 2.4 percent, to 28,178.23 in Johannesburg yesterday.

Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ): Copper snapped a two-day decline, rising as much as 0.7 percent to $7,075 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Shares of Anglo, the diversified mining company that makes up more than 10 percent of South Africa’s benchmark stock index, gained 4.13 rand, or 1.4 percent, to 300.50 rand. Shares in larger rival BHP Billiton Plc (BIL SJ) rose 68 cents, or 0.3 percent, to 216.78 rand.

Afrimat Ltd. (AFT SJ): The brick and concrete company said full-year profit rose 26 percent to 72.9 million rand ($9.79 million). Afrimat gained 23 cents, or 7.5 percent, to 3.28 rand.

Datatec Ltd. (DTC SJ): Africa’s biggest computer-services company said full-year profit dropped 47 percent to $31.6 million. The Johannesburg-based company rose 2.54 rand, or 7.1 percent, to 38.34 rand, its highest closing price since Sept. 12, 2007.

Liberty Holdings Ltd. (LBH SJ): The insurer controlled by Standard Bank Group Ltd. said it expects first-half earnings per share, excluding one-time items, to rise by at least 20 percent from a year earlier, according to a stock exchange filing. Liberty’s stock gained 1.30 rand, or 1.7 percent, to 78.25 rand.

Reunert Ltd. (RLO SJ): The electronic engineering business holding company will release full-year earnings. Reunert rose 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, to 57.25 rand.

Simmer & Jack Mines Ltd. (SIM SJ): Chief Financial Officer Gerhard Jacobs resigned and Robert Cowley was appointed as an acting replacement, according to a statement. The company gained 5 cents, or 4 percent, to 1.29 rand.

Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): Oil fell for a third day, dropping as much as 0.5 percent to $75.27 a barrel in electronic trading in New York. Stock of Sasol, the world’s biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, rose 3.74 rand, or 1.3 percent, to 285.99 rand.

Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK SJ): The South African Reserve Bank announces its interest-rate decision. Africa’s biggest lender rose 3.57 rand, or 3.2 percent, to 113.77 rand.

Trans Hex Group Ltd. (TSX SJ): Africa’s biggest publicly traded diamond producer said it successfully concluded talks to convert prospecting rights at the Luana Concession in Angola to mining rights, according to a stock-exchange statement. Trans Hex stock rose 1 cent, or 0.3 percent, to 3.61 rand.

Taste Holdings Ltd. (TAS SJ): The consumer brand holding group releases full-year earnings. The Johannesburg-based company was unchanged at 48 cents.

Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:

Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) added 0.4 percent to $19.98. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) slid less than 0.1 percent to $43.23. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) rose 0.8 percent to $58.10. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) fell 1.1 percent to $5.24. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) climbed almost 1 percent to $13.88. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) climbed 1.9 percent to $10.43. Impala Platinum Holdings Co. (IMPUY US) rallied 6 percent to $27.78. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) climbed 4.3 percent to $3.88. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) climbed 2 percent to $38.24. Telkom South Africa Ltd. (TLKGY US) advanced 2.3 percent to $19.

–Editor: Glenn J. Kalinoski, Paul Richardson.

AFRICA / AU :

Investigation begins into cause of Tripoli air crash
Thursday, 13 May 2010/news.bbc.co.uk

Aviation officials in Libya are investigating the plane crash that killed 103 people at Tripoli airport.

The flight recorders have been recovered and handed over to analysts for clues on what brought down the Afriqiyah Airways flight on Wednesday.

Police and rescue workers wearing surgical masks and gloves have been combing the wreckage of the Airbus A330 near the runway.

The sole survivor, a child reported to be Dutch, is being treated in hospital.

Dutch officials say 61 of their nationals were killed in the crash.

Other passengers included nationals from Libya, South Africa, Germany, Britain and France.

The plane – carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew – crashed as it arrived from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Eyewitnesses said the plane started to break up as it came in to land in clear weather.

“It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated,” one security official told the AFP news agency.

The plane’s tailfin bearing the airline’s colourful insignia was the only sizeable piece of wreckage to be seen.

The cause of the crash is not known. The Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan has ruled out terrorism.

‘A miracle’

The child was taken to hospital and underwent surgery for multiple fractures to both legs.
Libyan TV showed the child in a hospital bed with a bandaged head and wearing an oxygen mask.

Little is known about the boy. Libyan officials and the Dutch tourism board said he was aged 10 and from the Netherlands, but the Dutch foreign ministry said its diplomats were trying to see the boy to confirm his nationality.

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said the boy had muttered “Holland, Holland” to his doctor when asked where he came from.

The head of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, called the boy’s survival “truly a miracle”.

Flags across the Netherlands were flying at half mast for the victims on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said a crisis team had been set up in the foreign ministry.

“This is a large group of Dutch nationals, so it’s a deeply sad message we have this day,” he said on Wednesday.

The plane’s 11 crew were reported to have been Libyan.

The British Foreign Office confirmed that at least one British national was on board and Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin later confirmed that an Irish woman was among the dead.

Mr Zidan said victims also included nationals from Germany, Finland, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, South Africa and France, although he had no exact numbers.

According to Airbus, the aircraft was delivered from the production line in September 2009 and had accumulated about 1,600 flight hours in some 420 flights.

Afriqiyah Airways is a low-cost Libyan airline founded nine years ago and operates a relatively new fleet of Airbus aircraft, the BBC’s Wyre Davies in Cairo reports.

Ramona Africa still carrying the MOVE message
By Connie Langland /www.philly.com/For The Inquirer/13052010

In the spring of 1979, when she first attended a MOVE rally, Ramona Johnson was a student at Temple University, about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science and plans to enter law school. Through that summer, she got a fast-track course in court proceedings by sitting in on the criminal cases brought against MOVE members stemming from the 1978 confrontation that left Police Officer James Ramp dead, and four police officers and four firefighters wounded.
Johnson aligned herself with MOVE and became Ramona Africa. She met John Africa in May 1981, she says. He made her MOVE’s minister of communications.

On May 13, 1985, then 30, she was the only adult survivor of the Osage Avenue inferno, walking out of the flames and into the custody of Police Officer Charles “Tommy” Mellor.

Mellor was in the alley dividing Osage Avenue and Pine Street, spotting his partner, James Berghaier, who had made a dash to rescue 13-year-old Birdie Africa. “I said, ‘Ramona, you’re under arrest.’ She said, ‘Don’t shoot. I give up, I give up.’ “

But Ramona Africa has never given up. She is the most visible, and forceful, of MOVE defenders.

Prior to the confrontation, she remembers MOVE members’ publicizing the plight of the MOVE Nine, the five men and four women convicted in Ramp’s murder.

Police monitored MOVE activities on Osage Avenue, she said, knew children lived there, knew gasoline cans were in the roof bunker, and had opportunities to avoid confrontation.

“If . . . they wanted to arrest us, they could have done that at any time, when we were at the park, when we went food shopping, when we were walking on the streets,” she said.

On May 11, she said, adults in the house sent “a couple” of children grocery shopping with a MOVE supporter. Meanwhile, she said, police set up a barricade across Osage Avenue at 62d Street.

MOVE people were aware of the police activity, she said, but also knew past drills had ended uneventfully.

Early the next morning, “the first thing that we experienced was the Fire Department deluge hoses.”

Police had warrants, signed by then-Judge Lynne M. Abraham, to arrest four adults in the house in connection with an incident there April 29.

“Government officials told people their reason for being out there was complaints from neighbors. Now I’m not saying no neighbors ever complained; I’m sure some of them did. But . . . there is not a neighborhood in this city, in this country, where some neighbors don’t complain about their neighbors.”

On May 13, Ramona Africa was in the basement when the state police helicopter flew over and dropped the incendiary device – the bomb – on the roof of the rowhouse.

“We felt the house shake, but I can speak for myself here, it never, ever occurred to me they dropped a bomb. It started getting hot, more and more smoke, crackling of the fire. We realized then the house was on fire. We immediately tried to get our children, our animals, ourselves out of that burning building.

“The adults were hollering, ‘We’re coming out, we’re coming out.’ The children were hollering. And the instant we could be seen trying to come out, the cops immediately started shooting at us. You could hear the bullets all around us, forcing us back into the burning building.

“This happened at least twice. It started getting so bad in there with the fire spreading so quickly and the smoke. You’re faced with the situation, you’re either going to be burned alive or possibly shot to death. So we tried to get out again. I got out, I got Birdie out, and everyone was right behind me trying to come out. I don’t even remember being burned, but I was burned all up my arm, my wrist, my leg, my back. I know I was in shock.”

Mellor handed off Africa to other officers, and she was transported to Misericordia Hospital, as was Birdie.

What happened in that alleyway was a matter of intense dispute as investigations got under way. In its 1986 report, the MOVE Commission concluded that police gunfire stopped adults and children from escaping. The commission cited testimony by Ramona and Birdie Africa and by police and firefighters who said they heard automatic or semiautomatic gunfire that evening. But two months later, a state grand jury came to the opposite conclusion, noting that officers testifying with immunity from prosecution denied there was firing. The grand jury also noted that Birdie and others might have misinterpreted the noise of the fire, breaking glass, and crackling electrical wires for gunfire.

In the aftermath, Africa was charged with conspiracy, riot, and multiple counts of simple and aggravated a
ssault. She was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 16 months to seven years in jail. She served the full sentence rather than renounce MOVE.

“This was deliberate murder and yet to this day not one single official has ever been held accountable for the murder of my family,” she said.

“What happened May 13 hurt us. We can be hurt but we won’t be stopped. We turn that hurt, that anger and bitterness into energy to keep fighting. Any system that can do what it did May 13 is a system that is showing you how vicious it is and [that] must be stopped. If they can drop a bomb and burn babies alive and never be charged with anything, why wouldn’t they feel they can shoot people down and get away with it?”

Since her release in 1992, Africa has advocated for the MOVE Nine and for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

In 1996, she won a federal lawsuit against the city. With interest, she collected $564,378 and paid no lawyers’ fees. She lives with other MOVE members at 45th and Kingsessing Streets and earns speaker’s fees lecturing on MOVE and Abu-Jamal. In February, for instance, she spoke at the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene.

Over the years, Africa, who will be 55 in June, has honed her recollections and her point of view:

“The media would come around and John Africa would send me out. After May 13, when I was the only adult survivor, it started clicking. Oh, that’s why I’m minister of communications. We can’t see, but John Africa could see. He knew what he was doing.”

Celanese Announces Emulsions Price Increases in Europe, Africa and Middle East
May 13, 2010 /www.marketwatch.com

DALLAS, May 12, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Celanese Corporation /quotes/comstock/13*!ce/quotes/nls/ce (CE 30.26, +1.22, +4.20%) , a leading, global chemical company and global leader in emulsion polymers, announced today that it will increase the price of all vinyl based emulsions sold to Europe, Africa and the Middle East by EUR80/tonne, effective June 1, 2010, or as contracts allow.

This price increase includes all PVAc homopolymers, vinyl acetate copolymers and vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) emulsions and includes, but is not limited to, the following applications: adhesives, paints and coatings, nonwovens, glass fiber and textiles.

Customers should contact their Celanese sales representative for more details.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of specialty materials and chemical products which are used in most major industries and consumer applications. Our products, essential to everyday living, are manufactured in North America, Europe and Asia. Known for operational excellence, sustainability and premier safety performance, Celanese delivers value to customers around the globe with best-in-class technologies. Based in Dallas, Texas, the company employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2009 net sales of $5.1 billion, with approximately 73% generated outside of North America. For more information about Celanese Corporation and its global product offerings, visit www.celanese.com.

About the Emulsion Polymers Business of Celanese

The Emulsion Polymers business of Celanese is a global leader in developing products and application technology to improve performance, create value and drive innovation in a broad range of industrial and consumer end-use applications including adhesives, coatings, engineered fabrics, glass fibers, paper, textiles and more. The business has manufacturing facilities worldwide and is supported by expert technical service regionally. More information about the Emulsions Polymers business of Celanese is available at www.celanese-emulsions.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain “forward-looking statements,” which include information concerning the company’s plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future revenues or performance, capital expenditures, financing needs and other information that is not historical information. When used in this release, the words “outlook,” “forecast,” “estimates,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that the company will realize these expectations or that these beliefs will prove correct. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this release. Numerous factors, many of which are beyond the company’s control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed as forward-looking statements. Other risk factors include those that are discussed in the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.

SOURCE: Celanese Corporation

Celanese Corporation
Investor Relations
Mark Oberle, 972-443-4464
Telefax: 972-332-9373
Mark.Oberle@celanese.com
or
Media Relations
Travis Jacobsen, 972-443-3750
Telefax: 972-443-8519
William.Jacobsen@celanese.com

UN /ONU :

Peacekeepers warn of Darfur rebel, Sudan arms build-up
www.ngrguardiannews.com/130510

THE joint United Nations/African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission has warned of a build-up of Sudanese army and rebel troops near a strategic town in Darfur, where the security situation has deteriorated after peace talks between the government and rebels stalled.

The mission according to Reuters, said that long running tribal clashes in the remote western region had killed 107 people since March

“The security situation in North Darfur is tense following reports of an increase in the presence of government troops and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) forces in the Shangil Tobay region,” UNAMID said in a statement published late on Tuesday.

JEM was one of two rebel forces that launched a revolt against Sudan’s government in 2003, accusing it of starving Darfur of funding and marginalizing its population.

Sudan’s president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who mobilized militias to crush the uprising, is facing International Criminal Court charges of masterminding war crimes in the region.

The ICC case and the festering conflict are among the biggest obstacles to Sudan’s efforts to end years of isolation from the West – Washington imposed harsh economic sanctions on the oil producing country partly because of its Darfur record.

Two international sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there were signs JEM was moving south east through Darfur toward the neighboring region of South Kordofan, where it has attacked oilfields in the past.

Shangil Tobay is a settlement 70km (40 miles) south of the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, a government stronghold and hub for aid workers and peacekeepers. The area sits between JEM’s current stronghold in West Darfur and South Kordofan.

JEM official Al-Tahir al-Feki confirmed it had troops around Shangil Tobay and South Kordofan but said they were on “administrative” missions, holding talks with local leaders.

No one was immediately available for comment from Sudan’s army but this week it accused JEM of attacking villages in West and North Darfur states to expand its territory.

Both sides signed a ceasefire and initial peace deal in February but talks soon reached stalemate.

UNAMID said fighting broke out between the rival Misseriya and Rizeigat Nawaiba tribes in West Darfur in March.

The UN said it appeared a violent incident had sparked a cycle of revenge attacks.

“It is spiraling retribution over a killing… the retaliation just cycles out of control,” said Samuel Hendricks, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

He said rivalries had been exacerbated by competition for pasture, water and other resources.

An initial settlement broke down last week when new fighting broke out in the Mukjar region of West Darfur, said UNAMID.

“It is estimated that since March, the clashes have claimed the lives of 107 people on both sides and have caused many more to flee their homes,” it added.

In a related development, a military court in Rwanda has postponed the hearing of a plea seeking the release of Laurent Nkunda, a former rebel chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The court pushed the date back to June 11 to leave time to find an interpreter to facilitate the hearing,” Aime Bokanga told Agence France Presse (AFP).

Nkunda’s other defence counsel, the Canadian lawyer Stephan Bourgon, does not understand the local Kinyarwanda language that the military court has chosen for the proceedings, Bokanga explained.

Nkunda has been held since January 2009.

His lawyers say General James Kabarebe, the former Rwandan army chief of staff who was appointed defence minister last month, is responsible for the “arrest and illegal detention” of their client.

In late March Rwanda’s supreme court ruled that given Kabarebe’s military status it was not competent to hear the plea.

Nkunda was arrested in Gisenyi on January 22, 2009, when he was head of the rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) movement, according to people close to him.

In October 2008, Nkunda’s men routed the DR Congolese army in Nord-Kivu province and threatened to take the strategic provincial capital, Goma, near the border with Rwanda.

But after a shift in alliances, the Congolese and Rwandan armies in January 2009 launched an unprecedented joint operation targeting Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern DR Congo which also resulted in Nkunda’s arrest.

USA :

CANADA :

Ban criticizes Canada on climate
UN chief urges Harper to comply with Kyoto Protocol targets
By JULIET O’NEILL, Canwest News Service/ www.montrealgazette.com/ May 13, 2010

The United Nations chief chided the Canadian government for its climate change policy yesterday, urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute new funds to help developing countries improve their environments.

Ban Ki-Moon said he was pressing Harper on the matter during a speech warning that leaders of the G8 and G20 countries should not use global economic and financial difficulties as “an excuse” to neglect previous pledges of billions of dollars for the world’s poor – for doubling aid to Africa, food security, malaria and AIDS programs and maternal and child health care.

“Climate change is also something we cannot neglect because of this financial crisis,” he said.

Asserting that economic recovery, impoverished country development and climate change are all interwoven, Ban said he will look to the G20 “to push for a green recovery to the global economic crisis.”

“I urge Canada to comply with the targets set out by the Kyoto Protocol,” Ban said.

Pressed by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton to respond by making climate change the central theme of the G20 meeting that Harper hosts in June, the prime minister said climate change will be discussed but “the main issue will be the economy, the global economy.”

Harper rejected statements by Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe that Canada is not worthy of a seat on the UN Security Council, which it is campaigning to win in the fall, because it has not signed the UN treaty on the rights of indigenous peoples and because the prime minister had not even turned up to speak at a UN climate change summit last fall.

AUSTRALIA :

3rd Update: SingTel 4Q Net Up 12%; Operating Revenue Growth To Slow
online.wsj.com/MAY 13, 2010

By P.R. Venkat and Costas Paris Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)–Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (Z74.SG) Thursday posted a better-than-expected 12% increase in its fourth-quarter net profit due to strong performance from its associates, but warned that operating revenue this fiscal year will grow by a single percentage digit due to higher capital expenditure in Singapore and Australia.

SingTel said net profit for the quarter ended March 31 was S$1.02 billion compared with S$903.4 million a year earlier. Operating revenue was S$4.47 billion, up 25.4% from S$3.57 billion.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had tipped a S$997 million net profit in the fourth quarter.

Although the results beat most analyst expectations, the outlook for SingTel remains challenging as its associates face increasing competition and some face earnings dilution due to acquisitions and regulatory risks.

SingTel, Southeast Asia’s largest telecommunications firm by revenue, holds significant stakes in six foreign mobile operators: Bharti Airtel Ltd., Telkomsel, Advanced Info Service, Pakistan’s Warid Telecom, the Philippines’ Globe Telecom Inc. and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom.

Pre-tax profit from SingTel’s regional mobile associates rose 12% from a year earlier to S$546 million with a higher contribution from Indonesia’s Telkmosel.

The group recognized a S$327 million exceptional foreign exchange gain and a fair value loss of S$321 million on investments including Warid Pakistan.

“The fourth quarter concluded a successful year for us, despite the global financial crisis. With unrelenting focus on execution, we outperformed the markets in Singapore and Australia and met guidance for the financial year,” SingTel group’s chief executive, Chua Sock Koong, said.

The company said SingTel is investing in Singapore’s new Next Generation National Broadband Network that will see it incurring costs in the short term.

SingTel said operating revenue for this fiscal year will likely grow at a “mid single-digit level” and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization will fall to low-to-mid single-digits.

Capital expenditure this year is estimated at S$830 million, with free cash of around S$1.1 billion.

SingTel’s Singapore chief executive officer, Allen Lew, said the company needs to lower costs on broadband services to improve its return on investment.

Australian unit Optus’ operating revenue was up 6% from a year earlier at A$2.23 billion in the fourth quarter, while net profit was up 14% at A$220 million.

For Optus, SingTel said capital expenditure is estimated at A$1.2 billion–mainly to boost its mobile network coverage and increase network capacity.

It said Optus’ operating revenue and Ebitda this year is also expected to grow at mid single-digit levels.

On the possible listing of Optus, Chua said Singtel has no current plans to spin off the Australian unit. But the company continues to review new investment opportunities in Asia and emerging markets and will be “financially disciplined in its evaluation of such opportunities.”

“Certainly as a group, we do review our investments on a regular basis, and if it makes sense and is value accretive to our shareholders, we would not be averse to looking at adding to or divesting some of our existing investments,” she said.

Among its associates, Telkomsel’s pre-tax profit rose 26% from a year earlier to S$204 million due to the strong Indonesian rupiah, with operating revenue growing 9% on a higher customer base.

Contribution from Indian associate Bharti Airtel Ltd. (532454.BY) rose 9% from a year earlier to S$245 million, but SingTel said Bharti’s earnings are expected to be diluted due to the financing costs of acquiring Zain’s African assets.

Third generation network investment in India will also have an impact on Bharti’s earnings, SingTel said.

Chua said it was too early to assess the impact of the Indian telecommunications regulator’s recommendation that companies that hold 2G bandwidth in excess of 6.2 megahertz will have to pay a one-time fee to keep the extra bandwidth and that this fee should be linked to the ongoing auctions for 3G spectrum.

Separately, SingTel’s chief executive of international operations, Lim Chuan Poh, said there was potential to combine Bharti’s and SingTel’s Bangladesh operations. This partnership would mean sharing infrastructure such as mobile phone towers.

Shares of SingTel, which opened higher on the Singapore Exchange Thursday, were trading 1.3% lower at S$2.96 at 0423 GMT.

“Likely factors to depress the share price are rising content costs in Singapore, regulatory risks in India and earnings dilution from Bharti’s acquisition of Zain Africa,” CIMB said in its note. The broker has an Underperform call on SingTel.

-By P.R. Venkat and Costas Paris, Dow Jones Newswires; +65 64154 152; venkat.pr@dowjones.com; costas.paris@dowjones.com

(Sam Holmes, Gaurav Raghuvanshi and Lyndal McFarland contributed to this report)

Australian mine boosts La Mancha Q1 output
www.miningweekly.com /By: Esmarie Swanepoel/13th May 2010

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia and Africa-focused La Mancha Resources produced 21 654 oz of gold in the first quarter of 2010, up 17% from the 18 515 oz produced in the previous corresponding period, on the back of increased output from the Frog’s Leg mine, in Western Australia.

The company said in a statement that the ramp-up of production from the Frog’s Leg operation, as well as improved performance from the Hassaï mine, in Sudan, had compensated for lower production at the Ity mine, in Côte d’Ivoire.

The stronger gold production drove La Mancha’s first quarter revenues up to C$27,8-million, marking a 13% increase over the corresponding period of last year, as the gold price remained fairly stable between the two periods.

“La Mancha continues to progress in accordance with our business plan. While we are pleased with our strong first quarter results, they still do not fully reflect our achievements,” said president and CEO Dominique Delorme.

He noted that for the second quarter, the company expected the combined impact of increased mill capacity, increased ore production at Frog’s Leg, and the recent start of production at White Foil, also in Western Australia, to boost gold production from Australia alone to over 31 000 oz.

“We, therefore, remain confident that we will achieve our target 2010 gold production of up to 140 000 oz.”

During the quarter under review, the Frog’s Leg mine produced 9 789 oz of gold, compared with the 6 115 oz over the same period of 2009.

Meanwhile, the 100%-owned White Foil mine was set to start contributing to La Mancha’s consolidated gold production in the second quarter, as the mine celebrated its first gold pour last month.

Mining operations, which began in March, continue to run on schedule, with the first 100 000 t milling campaign well under way. As of May 3, a total of 101 000 t had been mined at a grade of 2,46 g/t gold.

Production at the Hassaï mine totaled 17 748 oz of gold, compared with the 16 220 oz of gold produced in the first quarter of 2009. Gold output increased owing to an increase in mill throughput and a slight increase in the gold recovery rate, which compensated for the decreased average processed gold grade.

La Mancha reported that the Ity mine produced a total of 10 380 oz of gold during the first quarter of 2010, compared with 12 885 oz of gold the previous year.

Despite the higher gold grades milled, production decreased owing to the combination of a l
ower mill throughput and a lower gold recovery rate.

Edited by: Mariaan Webb

EUROPE :

CHINA :

Rwanda: China -Africa Trade Hits $91 Billion in 2009
Berna Namata /allafrica.com/The New Times/13 May 2010

Beijing — Trade between China and Africa continued to register positive growth estimated at $91 billion last year, despite the negative effect of the global recession a top Chinese official has said.

While the figure is slightly lower than $106.8billion registered in 2008, China says it is optimistic that trade will continue to grow with increasing economic cooperation between the two trade partners.

“Since 2000 the two sides have established a new type of strategic partnership featuring political equality, mutual trust and economic win-win cooperation,” said Zhang Yongpeng, the Deputy Director, Office of International Relations at Institute for West Asian and African Studies (IWAAS).

Yongpeng who is also a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was speaking at ongoing seminar in Beijing organized for news media workers from African countries about China-Africa relations.

According to the official, the China- Africa economic relations are now focused on promoting investment, trade and labour contract between the two sides.

Since 2000, trade between the two sides has surged over the years from approximately $10 billion to $73.3 billion in 2007 registering a year-on-year increase of 32.2 percent.

In 2008 it soared by 44.1percent to reach a record high of $ 106.84 billion, registering a year-on-year increase of 45.1 percent.

While by the end of 2008 labour-contracted projects accounted for $39.44 billion, 10 times that of 2000.

“These are key elements of development. It is only through these ways that African countries can make use of their resources.

Aid is only a small fraction of African development,” told African journalists on Wednesday.

Yongpeng argued that the contribution rate of China-Africa trade to Africa’s development is by 20 percent.

Under the Africa- China development fund which brings about $2 billion from the Chinese enterprises, the official said 20 projects worth $400 million were invested by the end of 2008.

“The total amount will reach $5 billion in the coming three years. China’s aid to, investment in and debt relief for Africa has become an important composition of African development,” he observed.

Yongpeng also noted that China’s direct investment in Africa has steadily flourished over the years, increasing by 53 percent from $50 million in 2001 to nearly $1 billion by the end of 2008.

“The major issue for Africa now is developing its manufacturing sector.” he said.

Last year during the fourth ministerial conference of the Forum on China – Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China pledged $10 billion in concessional loans to African countries. This is in addition to setting up a $1 billion special loan for small and medium sized African business.

Minority student activists protest education cuts
By ERIC GORSKI (AP) /13052010

IRVINE, Calif. — If campus activism still brings to mind peace signs, a sea of white faces and liberal strongholds like Berkeley, meet Jesse Cheng.

Cheng is a third-year Asian-American studies major at the University of California, Irvine, a campus less than five decades old in the middle of Orange County, a place of strip malls and subdivisions that gave birth to the ultraconservative John Birch Society.

Comfortable talking with both administrators and anarchists, Cheng is a presence at protests but avoids getting arrested. He doesn’t want to put his graduation at risk or upset his mother, who worked hard to get him here and worries for his safety because she witnessed what happened to dissidents in her native China.

Cheng is part of a growing movement of minority students rallying around a new cause — fighting a budget crisis that’s undermining access to higher education at a time when students of color have become a stronger demographic force.

“For a lot of students of color, this is our dream and our hope — to get to college,” said Cheng, who is about to start a one-year term representing students from all 10 University of California campuses on the system’s board of regents. “We never thought we’d make it and we’re here. And we’re not going to give it up so easily.”

While talk about a rebirth of student activism surfaces every few years whenever sweatshop labor or some other cause draws a decent crowd, some observers believe organizing around threats to higher education has the potential to grow into something big, maybe even a national movement.

But a visit to a developing activist hotspot like UC-Irvine — where tensions have run high this year over everything from student tuition hikes to gender-neutral bathrooms and Middle East politics — illustrate the challenges involved.

The increased diversity of students, many of them the first in their families to attend college, is both a strength and a liability. Splits have emerged over tactics and agendas, making coalition-building more challenging than ever.

“It’s a very diverse group, a lot of students of color, which makes it more difficult to organize,” said Alejandra Ocasio, a fourth-year student from San Diego active in a Hispanic campus student association. “We all have our own interests. It can be difficult to reconcile those things.”

At 27,000-student UC-Irvine, the scene includes a Pakistani-American working behind the scenes on budget issues as her own financial aid disappears, a Filipino-American struggling to shake fellow Asian students from political apathy and a gay African-American activist who thinks the focus on student fees obscures larger problems like the evils of capitalism.

The fact that students of color are at the forefront of campus protests marks a significant shift, said Arthur Levine, a former president of Teachers College at Columbia University in New York who has studied student activism.

“In the past, minorities have tended to provide leadership for the minority protests,” Levine said. “Now they’ve moved to center stage. They’re leading the protests.”

___

On a recent morning, Cheng led a quick tour of activism at UC-Irvine.

Here, he explained, is the designated “free-speech zone” in front of the administration building.

About 1,000 people, a big crowd for a campus often maligned as apathetic, crowded onto the steps and filled an area between two flagpoles on March 4, a national day of college student demonstrations against tuition hikes and program cuts.

“Everyone was silent,” Cheng recalled. “It felt more like a lecture. I mean, it was a great moment — a teaching moment. But it wasn’t a punch-you-in-the-face kind of deal.”

Therein lies one challenge to organizing a movement around budget issues: a massive fee increase like the one UC students are facing this year is painful and personal. But it’s not as visceral as, say, the Vietnam War, which was a matter of life and death for students of the 60s and 70s facing the draft.

“Our crisis is different — and our demographics are very different,” Cheng said.

The March 4 Day of Action for Public Education began as a California-only event, a sequel to fall demonstrations against the state Board of Regents’ decision to boost UC undergraduate fees, the equivalent of tuition this fall by 32 percent for in-state students. The $2,500 fee hike brings UC education fees to about $10,300, plus about another $1,000 for campus-based charges.

Despite no real organization, the protest spread nationwide. Most demonstrations were peaceful, although protesters threw punches and ice chunks in Milwaukee and shut down a major freeway in Oakland, Calif., during rush-hour traffic.

It’s no accident that California, with its ethnic diversity and severe budget problems, is the epicenter of revived activism, said Angus Johnston, a historian of student activism who teaches at the City University of New York.

The momentum building over budget problems, Johnston said, “speaks to the demographic transformation of the student body. In the 1960s, the average student was coming from a family of means, someone who was white, male, with a history of academic achievement in the family. In 2010, none of those things are as likely.”

Johnston said the combination of students of lesser means taking on greater loans and American public higher education buckling under diminished state support and recession is a recipe for greater student engagement.

In California, Cheng is joined in the cause by first-generation minority college students such as Victor Sanchez, who attends the University of California, Santa Cruz and leads the University of California Student Association.

“It’s more than just fighting for what’s morally right,” said Sanchez, who has a Mexican father and Costa Rican mother and describes fighting for access to honors programs and Advanced Placement courses in high school. “It’s righting the wrongs of our own experiences, the stuff we’ve gone through, for our brothers and sisters and generations after.”

Like much contemporary student activism, Sanchez and Cheng combine direct action and lobbying.

Their pragmatism leads them to meet with administrators to press causes such as preserving the Cal Grant program for low-income students and boosting financial aid for their undocumented peers.

But Sanchez also sees value in standing apart when the moment is right — like when he was kicked out of the state Capitol after staging a “study-in.” The point was to call attention to diminishing state support that has led to fee increases, staff furloughs and program cuts at a system considered the jewel of American public higher education.

“For me, it’s most effective to have one foot in and one foot out,” Sanchez said. “What’s the point of addressing the powers that be if you don’t meet with them? We have to be a thorn in their sides and strong enough to advocate without losing our position.”

At UC-Irvine, capturing students’ attention is another challenge shaped by cultural currents.

Many Asian and Asian-American students, who are by far the largest racial group on campus at 47 percent of the student body, come from more moderate to conservative families and shy from political action, said Justine Calma, who became involved in campus activism by co-chairing a Filipino student organization.

“Who isn’t opposed to a 32 percent fee increase?” Calma said one recent afternoon at the university’s Cross-Cultural Center, or “The Cross,” a gathering spot for minority student activists. “It’s not really a contentious issue. To see just a few of us come out … I fight for every handful.”

___

UC-Irvine’s year of tumult is catalogued in messages scrawled in chalk on cam
pus sidewalks and stairwells. “Free Gaza,” reads one. “Funeral for Education” says another. Then there is the more benign, “Good luck on your midterms.”

The university has long been a hotbed of Muslim-Jewish tensions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the latest flare-up, 11 students, afterward known as the “Irvine 11” were arrested in February for repeatedly interrupting a talk by Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S.

Next came the “Irvine 17,” a group staging a sit-in with a list of a dozen demands ranging from gender-neutral bathrooms for transgender students to disarming police officers of Tasers. Restoring budget cuts was on the list, too.

A group that included members of the Radical Student Union, a group of self-described anarchists and Marxists, occupied the library to protest reduced hours. Then, on May 4, students dressed in black staged a mock “Funeral for Education” complete with a wooden coffin.

Some longtime activists, minority students among them, are wary of focusing too narrowly on the higher-education budget crisis.

Ryan Davis, a gay African-American student and one of the Irvine 17, said rising student fees are just a symptom of the larger problem of a “racist, hetero-normative, capitalist structure we want to take down by any means necessary.”

To Davis, that flawed structure allows for curriculum that glosses over minority contributions, campus workers not extended job protections and student bodies that don’t reflect the state’s diversity well enough.

“We’re just trying to make sure that’s highlighted and we’re not just washing over that in all the rhetoric over fee hikes,” said Davis, of San Diego.

Yet Davis said he doesn’t see student activists who work with administrators and elected officials on the budget crisis as enemies. And work-within-the-system students like Sarah Bana say they need students like Davis.

“If Ryan doesn’t yell at people and tell them what is wrong, I can’t say, ‘Here is one little way you can fix it,'” said Bana, executive vice president of Associated Students of UC-Irvine, the undergraduate student government.

A Pakistani-American whose father is a wholesale jeweler in downtown Los Angeles, Bana said the budget crisis drew her into activism. She receives both Pell and Cal Grants for low-income students. Over the last three years her financial aid was cut in half. An extra roommate recently moved into her apartment to save another $100 a month in rent.

Manuel Gomez, UC-Irvine’s vice chancellor for student affairs, said the efforts of student leaders such as Cheng and Bana have already made a difference. He pointed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent promise to veto any state budget that does not include more money for higher education as a gesture that might not have happened without student protests.

“There’s traction here, real traction,” Gomez said. “This affects children. It affects children’s futures … My question is, ‘Is the vision compelling enough to sustain itself beyond reducing fees?’ Is has to go beyond anger.”

With the mass actions from two months ago fading from memory, attention now shifts to a high-stakes California budget revision this month. Higher education’s share hangs in the balance.

The next student regent for the UC system, the friend to radicals and administrators alike, has three simple goals moving forward: to get students into college, make them feel safe there and get them out with a degree.

“I definitely think this is the birth of something,” Cheng said. “I’m not sure what the something is yet.”

New Market Report Now Available: Hotels & Motels – Top 5 Emerging Markets Industry Guide
www.pr-inside.com/2010-05-13

– New Consumer Goods research report from Datamonitor is now available from Fast Market Research

Datamonitor’s Hotels & Motels – Top 5 Emerging Markets Industry Guide is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the Hotels & Motels industry in each of the Top 5 Emerging markets (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa). The report includes easily comparable data on market value, volume, segmentation and market share, plus full five year market

forecasts. It examines future problems, innovations and potential growth areas within the market.

Scope of the Report

* Contains an executive summary and data on value, volume and segmentation
* Provides textual analysis of the industry’s prospects, competitive landscape and profiles of the leading companies
* Incorporates in-depth five forces competitive environment analysis and scorecards
* Compares data from Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, alongside individual chapters on each country. .
* Includes a five-year forecast of the industry

Highlights

The Top 5 Emerging countries contributed $57.3 billion to the global Hotels & Motels industry in 2008, with a CAGR of 13.3% between 2004 and 2008

In 2013, the market is forecast to have a value of $91.6 billion, with a CAGR of 9.8% over the 2008-2013 period.

China is expected to lead the Top 5 emerging nations, with a value of $52 billion in 2013.

Why you should buy this report

* Spot future trends and developments
* Inform your business decisions
* Add weight to presentations and marketing materials
* Save time carrying out entry-level research

Market Definition

The hotels & motels industry value consists of all revenues generated by hotels, motels and other accommodation providers through the provision of accommodation and foodservice. The value does not include any revenues generated through other interests, such as casinos, shops and telecommunication services. The industry is segmented according to the origin of the revenues (domestic consumers, domestic business and international business & consumers). Any currency conversions included within this report have been calculated using constant 2007 annual average exchange rates.

For more information or to purchase this report, go to:
– www.fastmr.com/prod/60256_hotels_motels_top_5_emerging_markets_i ..

Partial Table of Contents:

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 14
1.1 What is this report about? 14
1.2 Who is the target reader? 14
1.3 How to use this report 14
1.4 Definitions 14
CHAPTER 2 TOP 5 EMERGING COUNTRIES HOTELS & MOTELS INDUSTRY OUTLOOK 15
CHAPTER 3 HOTELS & MOTELS IN BRAZIL 19
3.1 Market Overview 19
3.2 Market Value 21
3.3 Market Segmentation I 22
3.4 Market Segmentation II 23
3.5 Five Forces Analysis 24
3.6 Leading Companies 30
3.7 Market Forecasts 38
3.8 Macroeconomic Indicators 39
CHAPTER 4 HOTELS & MOTELS IN CHINA 41
4.1 Market Overview 41
4.2 Market Value 43
4.3 Market Segmentation I 44
4.4 Market Segmentation II 45
4.5 Five Forces Analysis 46
4.6 Leading Companies 53
4.7 Market Forecasts 61
4.8 Macroeconomic Indicators 62
CHAPTER 5 HOTELS & MOTELS IN INDIA 64
5.1 Market Overview 64
5.2 Market Value 66
5.3 Market Segmentation I 67
5.4 Market Segmentation II 68
5.5 Five Forces Analysis 69
5.6 Leading Companies 75
5.7 Market Forecasts 81
5.8 Macroeconomic Indicators 82
CHAPTER 6 HOTELS & MOTELS IN MEXICO 84
6.1 Market Overview 84
6.2 Market Value 86
6.3 Market Segmentation I 87
6.4 Market Segmentation II 88
6.5 Five Forces Analysis 89
6.6 Leading Companies 95
6.7 Market Forecasts 105
6.8 Macroeconomic Indicators 106
CHAPTER 7 HOTELS & MOTELS IN SOUTH AFRICA 108
7.1 Market Overview 108
7.2 Market Value 110
7.3 Market Segmentation 111
7.4 Five Forces Analysis 112
7.5 Leading Companies 119
7.6 Market Forecasts 1257.7 Macroeconomic Indicators 126
CHAPTE
R 8 APPENDIX 128
8.1 Data Research Methodology 128

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Top 5 emerging countries hotels & motels industry, revenue ($bn) 2004-13 16
Table 2: Top 5 emerging countries hotels & motels industry, revenue ($bn) 2004-08 17
Table 3: Top 5 emerging countries hotels & motels industry forecast, revenue ($bn) 2008-13 18
Table 4: Brazil Hotels & Motels Industry Value: $ billion, 2004-2008 21
Table 5: Brazil Hotels & Motels Industry Segmentation I: % Share, by Value, 2008 22
Table 6: Brazil Hotels & Motels Industry Segmentation II: % Share, by Value, 2008 23
Table 7: Key Facts: Accor 30
Table 8: Key Financials: Accor 31
Table 9: Key Facts: Best Western International 33
Table 10: Key Financials: Best Western International 34
Table 11: Key Facts: Marriott International, Inc. 35
Table 12: Key Financials: Marriott International, Inc. 37
Table 13: Brazil Hotels & Motels Industry Value Forecast: $ billion, 2008-2013 38
Table 14: Brazil Size of Population (million) , 2004-2008 39
Table 15: Brazil GDP (Current Prices, $ billion), 2004-2008 39
Table 16: Brazil Inflation, 2004-2008 40
Table 17: Brazil Exchange Rate, 2004-2008 40
Table 18: China Hotels & Motels Industry Value: $ billion, 2004-2008 43
Table 19: China Hotels & Motels Industry Segmentation I: % Share, by Value, 2008 44
Table 20: China Hotels & Motels Industry Segmentation II: % Share, by Value, 2008 45
Table 21: Key Facts: Home Inns & Management Inc. 53
Table 22: Key Facts: Marriott International, Inc. 54
Table 23: Key Financials: Marriott International, Inc. 56
Table 24: Key Facts: Best Western International 57

Full Table of Contents is available at:
— www.fastmr.com/catalog/product.aspx?productid=60256&dt=t

About Datamonitor

The Datamonitor Group is a world-leading provider of premium global business information, delivering independent data, analysis and opinion across the Automotive, Consumer Markets, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Logistics & Express, Pharmaceutical & Healthcare, Retail, Technology and Telecoms industries. Datamonitor’s market intelligence products and services ensure that you will achieve your desired commercial goals by giving you the insight you need to best respond to your competitive environment. View more research from Datamonitor at www.fastmr.com/catalog/publishers.aspx?pubid=1002

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Lawyers to address DRC impasse
By ZHOU YAN (China Daily)/ 2010-05-13

African nation mulls legalities of Zijin Mining Group’s proposal

BEIJING – Zijin Mining Group Co and its partner China-Africa Development (CAD) Fund have sent their lawyers to negotiate with Copperbelt Minerals Limited on their bid for the latter’s subsidiary Platmin Congo after the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) minister of mining cast doubt on the legality of the deal.

“Copperbelt will communicate with the DRC’s Premier, and the result will come out before the end of July, which is the deadline for the transaction,” sources close to the matter said on Wednesday, adding that “misunderstandings” exist between the DRC government and Chinese buyers.

Zijin and State-backed CAD Fund announced plans on May 7 to jointly acquire a 40 percent stake in Platimin Congo from Copperbelt for about $280 million.

But foreign media reported that a top official from the DRC’s minister of mining said on May 8 the deal might be illegal.

The Chinese government may approve the bid next month, although a nod from the DRC may be delayed, according to Bloomberg reports on Wednesday, citing Zijin Chairman Lan Fusheng.

“I believe that the deal will eventually receive approval from the DRC government, because the mining project needs investment,” Lan was quoted as saying, adding that the project has no legal issues, but some misunderstandings in the plan.

“Zijin’s overseas expansion comes out less fruitful if compared with their business in the domestic markets. It still takes time for the miner to understand the foreign country’s business environment,” said Liu Minda, a non-ferrous analyst at Huatai Securities, adding that the deal’s results remain murky and subject to resolution of the DRC’s objections.

The DRC holds a vast amount of valuable natural resources including gold, copper, diamonds and cobalt – most of which remain unexploited due to the laggard economy and unstable political situation.

“The country holds very high-grade minerals, but most Chinese companies can hardly make huge profits through their investments in the DRC because of high taxes and rampant corruption,” said Liu.

In addition, Western countries, which have concerns over Chinese firms penetration in Congo, also hindered domestic firms’ expansion pace in an African country that has heavy external debt to Europe, America and the International Monetary Fund, said Li Wentao, an associate researcher at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Li added that the DRC government also encourages local companies to participate into the mining industry for the country’s own interest.

“Fortunately, it will not impact on Zijin’s business heavily if the bid fails given the small size of the investment if compared with the miner’s large market capitalization,” Liu said.

Zijin shares edged up 0.49 percent to close at 8.26 yuan ($1.21) on Wednesday, compared with Shanghai Composite Index’s rise of 0.31 percent.

INDIA :

Standard Chartered begins historic attempt to list shares in India
Katherine Griffiths, Banking Editor /Times Online/ May 13, 2010

Standard Chartered will today unveil plans to become the first foreign company to list its shares in India.

The emerging markets bank is expected to end months of speculation by confirming its intention for the national and Mumbai stock exchanges.

The bank has grown from having a negligible business in India a decade ago to hitting $1 billion (£670 million) in profits last year. The country is set to overtake Hong Kong as Standard Chartered’s biggest market next year.

The bank will be the first company to take advantage of market liberalisation measures announced five years ago to list Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs), similar to American Depository Receipts. Foreign companies are not allowed to list ordinary shares in India but buyers of the IDRs will be able to participate in rights issues and company votes.

The bank expects to raise about $600 million through the issue, which will be offered to individuals and institutions. Peter Sands, Standard Chartered’s chief executive, and Richard Meddings, its finance director, will be in Mumbai today to start the process.

Mr Sands said when Standard Chartered filed a draft prospectus with India’s regulator at the end of March: “We have a 150-year heritage in India. This is a unique opportunity to raise our profile and allow investors in India to participate in our future.”

The bank’s senior figures and financial advisers will embark on a two-week roadshow to attract interest. The IDRs will be priced and listed by the end of June.

There is a widespread view that Indian institutional investors are keen to buy the IDRs, but the bank does not know whether there will be interest among individuals, many of whom are unfamiliar with the Standard Chartered brand.

If the bank fails to find enough buyers among retail customers, it can divert the issue to institutions. The bank already has full listings in London and Hong Kong.

Standard Chartered, which opened in India 152 years ago with a branch in Calcutta, is India’s biggest foreign bank. It has 94 of the 250 branches owned by foreign banks in the country and double the number owned by HSBC and Citigroup individually.

There is speculation that other foreign companies, particularly from other parts of Asia such as Korea and Taiwan, may follow Standard Chartered in launching IDRs.

Any interest among middle-class or wealthy individuals will be welcomed by Standard Chartered, which is struggling to reduce its heavy reliance on wholesale banking.

In India, the bank makes more than 90 per cent of profits from wholesale banking and 10 per cent from consumers. Revenues are split 70 per cent to big business customers and 30 per cent to individuals and small businesses.

In common with other foreign banks Standard Chartered caters only to wealthy individuals, although that involves two million people out of a population of 1.2 billion.

The bank has encountered problems in the past few years by trying to attract customers with lower incomes and has had substantial bad debts from credit cards and customer loans.

Its consumer bank was profitable last year, unlike other foreign banks which have expanded quickly into retail banking in India.

HSBC lost $219 million in personal financial services in India last year but overall was $374 million in profit because its global banking and markets business made $393 million.

Barclays does not release results for India but is understood to have made a loss. The bank is dismantling some of its overseas empire created by its former head of retail and corporate banking, Frits Seegers, after heavy costs and negligible revenues. It is unclear whether the bank will remain in India.

All foreign lenders have been hampered by India’s control of branch openings and ownership of local banks. The Reserve Bank of India tends to hand out about five licences for new branches a year to foreign players, constraining their growth. In contrast India’s ICICI bank has 2,000 branches across the country.

India also caps ownership of local banks at 10 per cent. Preparation to relax the rule was shelved with the financial crisis and will probably not be revisited until the global economy has stabilised, observers believe.

By being the first foreign bank to list IDRs, Standard Chartered may feel that the Government will be well disposed towards it when the market is opened. Standard Chartered and HSBC are also positioning themselves for an opening up of China, where both are keen to list their shares and buy local banks.

Standard Chartered is rumoured to have made an approach for Old Mutual’s 54 per cent stake in Nedbank in South Africa.The bank wants to increase its presence in the region to also add some balance to Asia.

India’s Ajay Mathur named among energy-efficiency ‘visionaries’
Submitted by Rajvir Khanna /Energy SectorFeaturedTNMAjay Mathur/www.topnews.in/Thu, 05/13/2010

Mr. Ajay Mathur, director general of India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), has been named as one of the energy efficiency “visionaries”. He has been honored for his excellence in the field of saving energy. He will receive the award from the Alliance of countries from Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.

Mr. Mathur will receive the award in Washington in a conference of the Alliance. The Alliance is basically a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders from various parts of the globe. They promote efficient and clean use of energy all across the globe.

Mr. Ajay Mathur is currently a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. He is also involved in some of the projects that are basically related to energy efficiency.

He has been the prime leaders of the country’s transformation towards energy efficiency.

He has been involved in India’s standards and energy conservation labeling program on the equipment and appliances. He has written three books and has produced several reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Proposed regulations hit India’s telecom giants
By ERIKA KINETZ/www.businessweek.com/May 13, 2010

MUMBAI, India

Things just got tougher in the world’s fastest-growing cell phone market. A government proposal to hike existing mobile spectrum fees for India’s largest players sent stocks swooning Wednesday, with shares in market leader Bharti Airtel plunging 8.3 percent.

If accepted, the proposal would help the government reduce its fiscal deficit, but it’s unwelcome news for leading operators caught in a brutal price war and burdened by a pricey auction for third-generation licenses.

It’s also a reminder that you can’t do business without the government in India.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said Tuesday that its proposals were meant to encourage consolidation and maximize efficiency. They still have to be approved by the Department of Telecommunications.

The most controversial change calls for a one-time fee for existing operators with large allocations of spectrum. The price would be based on the cost of 3G spectrum, which has spiraled past $3 billion for an all-India license in the ongoing bidding process.

The chairman of the regulatory authority, J.S. Sarma, told India’s CNBC-TV 18 that the government could make 350 billion rupees ($7.8 billion) from the fees. Add that to an anticipated 550 billion rupee ($12.2 billion) windfall from 3G auctions and the telecom department could rake in an amount equal to 1.6 percent of India’s estimated gross domestic product for the year that ended March 31.

The uncertainty couldn’t have come at a worse time for India’s once-golden telecom industry. New players such as Norway’s Telenor and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo have piled in, driving call costs to less than one cent a minute in some cases. Even as their margins erode, companies are scrambling to amass war chests to bid for 3G spectrum, which analysts say is crucial for future growth.

Critics say the regulator’s proposal is an about-face by the government which could cost market leaders like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea Cellular billions of dollars and drive away investors wary of government interference.

“The government one fine day cannot stand up and say you have to pay up for that spectrum at a price not anticipated by anyone in the telecom market. It’s not sticking to your own promises,” said PricewaterhouseCoopers executive director Sandeep Ladda. “This is not going to be looked at by overseas new entrants in a very favorable manner.”

Concerns about resurgent government assertiveness have been running high since the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that the government’s right to price natural gas trumps a private contract — even if it happens to be between two of the richest and most powerful brothers in India, Mukesh and Anil Ambani.

Bharti bit back Wednesday, issuing a withering statement that called the telecom regulator’s recommendations “shocking, arbitrary and retrograde.” It said they overturn 15 years of policy in India and are at odds with global norms.

“It seems that the recommendations are designed to punish efficient and performing operators like us for contributing to the growth of the Indian telecom sector and are instead tailor made to benefit select operators whose contribution to telecom growth and government revenues have been negligible,” the statement said.

Bharti, which has a 21.8 percent market share in India, is in an especially tough situation. It has massive financing demands, both for 3G spectrum and its $10.7 billion offer for the Africa assets of Kuwait’s Zain Telecom.

A company spokesman declined to comment on how much the proposed changes might cost the company, but analysts estimated $1.4 billion to $2 billion.

Advocates of the proposals say making spectrum allocation more efficient would be good for consumers, who deal with the daily frustration of dropped calls. Some say they would also foster competition by helping some smaller players, like Reliance Communications, get more spectrum.

Existing players with less spectrum also wouldn’t feel the pinch of added fees and would benefit, like all others, from a proposal to cut licensing fees by as much as 40 percent.

Reliance Communications executives called the recommendations “forward-looking, pro-consumer and pro-competition.”

Reliance Communications shares closed flat in Mumbai trading Wednesday.

Angel Broking analyst Rahul Jain said the government, which nurtured the industry with infrastructure and tax breaks, is now looking to get its share.

“The government is trying to extract more revenues from an industry earning good profits,” he said.

Godrej Jumps After Sara Lee Agrees to Sell Stake (Update1)
May 13, 2010/By Saikat Chatterjee/Bloomberg

May 13 (Bloomberg) — Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., India’s second-biggest soapmaker, was poised to reach a record high in Mumbai trading after it agreed to buy Sara Lee Corp.’s stake in their venture for 185 million euros ($234 million).

Godrej Consumer climbed as much as 9.6 percent to 327 rupees, the highest level on a closing basis since it started trading in 2001. It traded at 325.1 rupees as of 10:38 a.m. local time. The benchmark Sensitive Index advanced 0.8 percent.

The detergent, cosmetics and household items maker exercised the right to buy its partner’s 51 percent stake in the venture Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. after Sara Lee decided to exit the household insecticides business. Godrej Sara Lee sells household insecticides such as Hit and mosquito repellant GoodKnight.

“This is a fantastic deal,” said Anand Shah, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. in Mumbai, who rates the stock “accumulate.” The acquisition of Sara Lee’s stake in the venture will add as much as 900 million rupees ($20 million) to net income in the year ended March 31, 2012, Shah said.

Sara Lee, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, has been selling units to focus on coffee and food. Godrej last year said it seeks to acquire businesses in Asia, Latin America and Africa to widen its portfolio of hair color and personal hygiene products as well as household insecticides.

‘Important Step’

“The acquisition represents an important step towards Godrej Consumer becoming a leading emerging-markets multinational and dovetails well with our global 3 by 3 strategy – presence in 3 continents – Asia, Africa and Latin America through 3 core categories – home care, personal wash and hair care,” Godrej Chairman Adi Godrej said in a statement.

Sara Lee last year agreed to sell its toiletries business to Unilever NV and its air-fresheners business to Procter & Gamble Co. for a combined 1.59 billion euros and said both transactions will close this year.

In April, Mumbai-based Godrej Consumer agreed to purchase Indonesian insecticide maker PT Megasari Makmur for an undisclosed price. The purchase would add 500 million rupees to profit for the year ending March, Godrej said May 7.

–Editors: Frank Longid, Dave McCombs.

BRASIL:

EN BREF, CE 13 mai 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,13/05/2010