adminBleak outlook for food security in Swaziland
MBABANE — Archaic agricultural practices and erratic rainfall in the recent planting period is expected to lead to an increase in food insecurity for most of Swaziland’s 1,1 million people next year, says a government agriculture official.
US advisers limited to ‘support’ role in tracking down LRA
NEW YORK — The main stated aim of the US deployment of 100 military advisers to central Africa is to improve co-ordination among the armies of countries affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to avoid repeating the fiasco of the 2008 multinational offensive against the group.
Central African Republic: A healthcare crisis, says MSF
BANGUI — Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has described the Central African Republic (CAR) as being in a state of “chronic medical emergency” and is calling on donor governments and development agencies to provide additional funding and take urgent action.
HIV traps women and girls in poverty — report
A UN report says women and children in Indonesia bear the brunt of HIV’s economic impact.
China remains a bright spot in the fragile world economy
BEIJING— Three years after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the world economy ends 2011 as fragile as ever.
Eurozone ‘heading for recession in 2012’
The eurozone is likely to slip back into recession next year, according to a report by Ernst & Young.
Scientists home in on missing link of physics
GENEVA — International scientists said on Tuesday they had found signs of the Higgs boson, an elementary sub-atomic particle believed to have played a vital role in the creation of the universe after the Big Bang.
France to release 230m euros in Libyan assets
TRIPOLI — France will release 230 million euros to Libyan authorities in the next few days and help them recover the rest of their frozen assets, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on a visit to Tripoli yesterday.
Libya’s leadership has expressed growing frustration that, three months after Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown, only a fraction of the frozen assets, estimated at $150 billion, have been released to pay for wages and rebuilding the country.
Old Mutual to sell Nordic unit for $3,2bn
LONDON — Insurer Old Mutual is to sell its Nordic business at a paper loss to Skandia Liv for 22,5 billion Swedish crowns ($3,2bn) to cut debt and return surplus capital from the deal to shareholders.
The businesses being sold comprise Old Mutual’s long-term savings and banking operations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden operating under the Skandia brand.
Europe debt woes prompt flight from risk
Singapore — Asian shares fell into bear market territory for the year and commodities and the euro nursed stinging losses yesterday, as fears that Europe’s debt crisis is still worsening prompted investors to dump riskier assets and seek shelter in the dollar.