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$100 oil to put Myanmar junta over a barrel again
Ed Cropley, Reuters
Oil was $72 a barrel in August when a budget crunch forced Myanmar’s ruling generals to slash fuel subsidies, sparking protests that snowballed into the biggest anti-junta uprising in two decades.
Since then, crude prices have climbed 35 percent to near $100 a barrel, and with no new revenues coming in from natural gas sales or anywhere else in a shambolic economy, the regime has little option but to raise fuel prices again, analysts say.
(11 November 2007)
Recycling a necessity not fad in Cairo
Anna Johnson, Associated Press
In advanced countries, someone whose cell phone breaks down or becomes outdated usually tosses it and gets a new, fancier model. Ditto for the DVD player, Sony PlayStation, and even radios and watches.
Not so in the developing world. Here in Cairo, whole side streets and alleys are packed with electronics repairmen laboriously fixing circuits, keypads and compact disc lenses – charging around $5 for a standard repair.
As recycling has become the craze across the West, Egyptians have continued to reuse almost everything, recycling not as a fad but as a necessity.
Tiny repair shops are not unique to Cairo – they are a way of life for cities in Africa, Asia and elsewhere where people cannot afford to buy a new electronics device every time something breaks down.
(8 November 2007)
Zimbabwe: Rural Folk Cut Off From ‘Civilisation’
Shame Makoshori, Financial Gazette (Harare) via AllAfrica
…Chaparadza is one of the many victims of the escalating fuel crisis, which has had far-reaching implications on all sectors of the economy.
Rural communities have been cut off the mainstream economic system owing to inadequate electricity and fuel, blamed on foreign currency shortages.
The effects of the erratic energy supplies have been catastrophic across the mining, tourism and manufacturing sectors. The rural transport system has been paralysed as well, leaving commuters stranded.
Commercial cargo carriers, for example, have replaced conventional buses on the 204-kilometre stretch between Harare and Karoi. It is the same story along other major highways.
Only recently, a commercial transport vehicle ferrying fuel caught fire along the Harare-Mutare Road, burning passengers on board beyond recognition.
Farmers are also among the worst-hit. Fuel for farmers during the 2007/2008 agricultural season was promised under various facilities but farmers say they are still to receive the precious liquid.
(8 November 2007)
Related from Associated Press: Zimbabwe: Meltdown in Slow Motion
