American Airlines will end service between New York’s JFK International Airport and London’s Stansted Airport to cut capacity to better cope with soaring fuel prices, according to the airline’s parent, AMR Corp.Yesterday, American said it would end Chicago flights to Honolulu and Buenos Aires, as well. Last week it said it would reduce domestic capacity by 11% to 12%.

The Stansted service will end July 2, but American will continue to offer service between JFK and London’s Heathrow Airport, according to AMR.

AMR announced that it planned to make further cuts to its schedule in other markets and retire 40 to 45 mainline aircraft and 35 to 40 regional jets.

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Asia Supports Africas Green Revolution

Africa and Asia are cooperating as well as competing on world markets, e.g. as producers of tea; tea harvest in Uganda. (Photo: Dag Leraand)

With India being the cradle of the Green Revolution, it is only natural that the nation should offer Africa a hand with its agricultural development. This was only one of several promises made at the India-Africa summit in New Delhi in early April.

“India wishes to see the 21st century as the century of Asia and Africa, with the people of the two continents working together to promote inclusive globalization,” India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, told the assembled leaders at the historic conference. Ties between India and Africa, however, have a history spanning centuries of trade across the Indian Ocean. Also, a considerable number of Indians have long since settled in Africa, especially in the east and the south of the continent. Likewise, China has a long history of ties with Africa, including some of a more political nature, particularly during the 1970s and 80s. The closer ties in recent years are mainly connected with commercial ventures.

India and Africa

The first India-Africa summit, on 8–9 April, brought African leaders to New Delhi to discuss a number of issues where cooperation can be increased, including agriculture and food. The president of Tanzania, Jakaya M. Kikwete, pointed out that high food prices will negate efforts designed to achieve faster growth and reduce poverty in Africa. Rising oil and food prices were identified as top concerns during the summit. “India’s interest in Africa should be a long-term engagement, not to exploit the natural resources of the continent, make huge profits and run away,” Kikwete said.

India and Africa must acquire the momentum needed to meet all their food needs through domestic production, Manmohan Singh said, pointing to agriculture as an area with huge potential for cooperation between India and Africa and promising to help Africa with technology to increase farm productivity. “I offer Indian assistance in ushering in a Green Revolution in Africa through holistic capacity-building in agricultural production, storage and transportation,” the PM said at the end of the summit. Trade was a key question at the summit, with India offering preferential market access to its vast market, including its market for agricultural commodities – and Indian assistance to achieve food security in Africa and increase Africa’s agricultural exports to world markets, including value added products. India also unveiled plans to double credit lines to the continent in the next five years, and to promote public-private partnerships.

The summit agreed on a broad cooperative framework including agriculture, trade, education, governance, the reform of global institutions, and infrastructure. Adopted in the ‘Delhi Declaration’, the ‘Africa-India Framework for Cooperation’, was described as a blueprint for a new vision for cooperation in the 21^st century. Rounding off the summit, African Union head Alpha Oumar Konaré said Africa’s aspirations for a partnership on an equal footing had been understood. A second summit is to be held in Africa, in 2011.

India had already taken steps to strengthen its contact with Africa through the first Indo-African Agrifood Summit held in Delhi in March 2007 This aimed to enhance the partnership between India and African economies through trade, joint ventures and investments. Its main focus was growth opportunities in African agriculture, food processing and allied sectors, in addition to showcasing Indian expertise in these areas.

Especially China has been criticized for wanting access to Africas natural resources, not least minerals; mining in Botswana. (Photo: Dag Leraand)

China and Africa

China and India are by far the most populous countries in the world. With their 2.2 billion inhabitants, they constitute huge markets with strong economic growth craving raw materials as well as outlets for their products. In recent years, China has established itself as a major economic player in Africa, and the Chinese–African collaboration was visibly highlighted by the Sino–Africa summit in Beijing in November 2006. It resulted in loans and credits to Africa, along with a doubling of Chinese aid. Chinese assistance and cooperation has been extended in a number of areas, including agriculture. The Beijing Summit agreed to help Africa develop its agriculture and to provide training and the transfer of technology.

China’s role – its motives and methods – are hotly debated, as indicated by the title of an article in the Asia Times: ‘China: Partner or Predator in Africa?’ China’s growing demand for oil, the authors argue, is one major reason for its interest in Africa. It is also looking increasingly towards Africa as an alternative to the Middle East for its energy needs.

In an article in the March/April 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs, Harry G. Broadman, economic adviser at the World Bank and author of its 2007 publication ‘Africa’s Silk Road: China and India’s New Economic Frontier’, takes a closer look at China’s and India’s interest in Africa. Stating that “Economic activity between Africa and Asia is booming like never before”, the author at the same time notes that the bulk of the rapidly increasing trade and investments is by and large concentrated on a few countries with raw materials to offer. Broadman looks at the different approaches China and India have in Africa, with India tending to establish partnerships and draw on local resources, including manpower, to a greater extent than China.

Japan and Africa

Although Japan’s sphere of interest is mainly in East Asia, ties with Africa have been reinforced over the last few years, through both aid and trade. Through its aid organisation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan is a major player in international development assistance and has strengthened its Africa focus in recent years. In 2008, Japan is hosting two major gatherings relevant to Africa:

At the end of May, the 4^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) is to be held, on the topic of ‘Towards a Vibrant Africa: A continent of Hope and Opportunities’. This was also the theme when Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Masahiko Koumura, paid an official visit to Tanzania in January 2008, launching a new assistance package for Africa. Poverty reduction through economic growth is one of the pillars of TICAD, and the Africa-Asia Business Forum (AABF), which holds its 4^th conference in Dar es Salaam in 2007, is one of the instruments, another being the TICAD Exchange. Agriculture and food processing is a sector prioritised by the AABF. 43 African heads of states or governments are expected at the TICAD IV in Yokohama, May 28–30.

At the beginning of July, the annual G-8 summit will be hosted by Japan in Hokkaido Toyako, with global warming as the main topic. In early April, more than 150 representatives from the G-8, African and OECD countries came together for the 10^th meeting of the African Partnership Forum (APF) in Tokyo, to discuss key issues affecting development in Africa, ahead of the G-8 summit, including a session on ‘Boosting Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction’.

The G-8 has had Africa high on its agenda in recent years, particularly at Gleneagles in 2005, followed up in St. Petersburg in 2006 with a progress report on Africa, and at Heiligendamm in 2007 with a declaration on Africa. Also in Hokkaido, Africa will feature on the Agenda, and agriculture is expected to be one of the main topics.

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‘Glocalisation’ key to green tourism

Glocalisation – local solutions to the global problem of climate change – are being touted by tourism chiefs in Dubai, as well as an increasing need to promote the industry’s green credentials.

As the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual summit came to a conclusion, the environmental agenda continued to top the agenda.

“We have to explain to the world what we are doing,” concluded Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of the WTTC.

Delegates highlighted the fact that tourism only accounts for five per cent of global warming, according to United Nations’ research, yet the industry is still being singled out.

“The fact is we are moving into a world in which the consumption of scarce resources is one of the ways in which we will be judged,” said Christopher Rodriguez, chairman of VisitBritain.

The industry should do more to try and not make people feel guilty about travel, and advertise the giant strides that key players are taking to make their businesses more environmentally sustainable, expressed speakers.

“We are trying to measure the energy usage of a single room and help reduce our carbon footprint,” said Gerard Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah. “We have to be responsible, we want to be carbon neutral and we should be able to reward our guests for doing the same.”

As sustainable tourism enters the mainstream there were also calls for the industry to set some meaningful targets at the summit for emissions and that by 2020 the sector should look to being 20% more efficient.

“We need a global framework for accrediting all the carbon emissions schemes,” said Geoffrey Lipman, assistant secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

The event saw more than 1,100 leaders from 75 countries gathered at the Madinat Jumeirah hotel in Dubai to discuss the factors affecting the future travel landscape.

The summit also put the spotlight on the Middle East and its sustainable tourism agenda.

According to local media, Dubai is looking to issue a comprehensive initiative that will make its booming tourism industry more sustainable.

“Green initiatives are being unveiled by the government to ensure eco-friendly development projects across the emirate,” said Khalid bin Sulayem, director general of the Dubai Government, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

“This will position Dubai as the first city in the region to adopt a green building strategy, as well as innovating new eco-developments.”

The government of Dubai is increasingly aware of the environmental impact of its breakneck growth.

The number of hotels in the emirate will be more than 500 by 2015. The growth in room numbers will vastly increase from nearly 47,000 now to over 125,000 by this date, including the world’s biggest hotel in the Bawadi project.
Nakheel, the Dubai-based tourism investment group, has recently announced its sustainability initiative – $136 million over five years for the awareness and development of sustainable coastal developments.

by Nick Easen

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Ni Wakati the documentary film from the creators of hip hop colony.

About the film:
Ni Wakati places the destiny of the future in the youth’s hands. It’s a passing of the revolutionary torch to the youth from the fore fathers. It shows how the revolutionary youth of Africa, utilizing Hip-hop have turned the Ghetto’s into breeding ground of explosive talent in the art’s and the political sphere. Hip Hop also becomes a universal ingredient that can voice oppression and fight it where it exists as it also becomes a unique channel to dispense the beauty and complexities of Africa. On this unique excursion we journey with M1 from Dead Prez and Umi from POW from the states. We see them interact with their fellow Africans where they not only eat, but they also get to trade verses in make shift studios at various artists home, even the ghettos.

They use the platform presented by the British (WAPI) to dispel their colonial ways as they empower crowds, around East Africa. In Kenya the inner city and underclass group Kalamashaka, which reigns from the slams of Dandora that reinvented Kenya’s vocabulary through a thriving cultural underworld with energy, innovation and controversy. What began in the Bronx of New York, found it’s way into the Ghetto’s of a slam dwelling area in Kenya, while still retaining it’s authentic raw essence. It proceeded to furnish fertile ground for the young slum dwellers in crafting new identities through the different explosive art forms within hip hop. In a country where the slams are largely neglected by the government. Hip Hop provided a voice and vehicle for these youth to empower themselves while airing their grievances.

They collectively continue to push for Hop hop’s essence in fighting for people to realize the freedom’s they already have. They work in reuniting Africans and African Americans through the strongest bond that exists between the two today, hip hop. As they all journey to revitalize their essence and purpose from the existing leaders of the Black Panther Pete and Charlotte O’neal, based in Arusha, Tanzania.

Whether it’s the ghetto’s of Africa or the States, these reformists prove that Hip Hop can be revolutionary. The Black Panther’s that stemmed from cultural under class bravely fought for equalities and rights that blacks were deprived. They set up structures to better the people while in the middle of surging for these reforms, their purpose was constantly being undermined and monitored. Almost thirty years later, we find them in Tanzania, where, they still champion their causes of bettering the community with vivid results. They integrate with the Ukoofulani Mau Mau chapter to head community based programmes. While they Unite to present a message to do away with a colonial mentality, to embrace the freedoms that readily exist to better the people. M1 brings the American text, Ukoofulani, the African text as they come together to set a new chapter in the revolution mentored by the Black Panther.

COMING SOON
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Ingredients:
8 Bananas, peeled
125 g/4 oz butter, melted
125 g/4 oz groundnuts/peanuts, chopped

Serves 4

Steam the bananas in a large saucepan until heated through; that will only take a few seconds. Be careful that they do not become too soft.

Drain and roll in the melted butter and after that roll each one separately in the chopped groundnuts/peanuts.

Arrange them on a baking dish and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 190C/375F.

This works great with ice cream, especially the Mango ice cream mentioned earlier!!

-The origin of this recipe is debatable, but one fact is its from Africa and most probable East Africa-

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Video – Malaysia Japanese Garden Ipoh Perak.

Malaysia Japanese Garden Ipoh Perak is a beautiful place to visit in Perak.

This beautiful landscaped garden, designed with a Japanese flair, features Japanese carp pond, rock garden as well as a refreshing atmosphere and beds of colourful flora.

Established in the early 1960s, the Malaysia Japanese Garden is a popular site for couples and those wanting to take wedding photographs.

This Malaysia Japanese Garden is a public park that recreates the aesthetics of a Japanese garden.

A small Japanese house, a koi pond and a wooden bridge across a stream are some of the elements.

The grounds are lush with a variety of beautiful tropical flowers, plants and trees. An idiosyncratic attraction is the colourful solar-powered floral clock on a slope, which was imported from Holland.
To drive to the Malaysia Japanese Garden, use the North-South Expressway (PLUS) from Kuala Lumpur or from Penang, exit at Ipoh and make your way to the Ipoh New Town.

The Malaysia Japanese Garden is located at Jalan Raja Dihilir, right next to the Turf Club along Jalan Tambun.

Interesting detail From The Survey Survival Network blogs.

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The Action Plan has to be regarded as part of UNWTO’s “triple commitment” objectives, in the framework of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals:

• tourism should benefit the poor;
• protection of our environment and
• empowerment of women.

Under the guidance of H.E. Mrs. Nilofar Bakhtiar, recently appointed UNWTO Special Advisor on Women and Tourism, the Organization has initiated procedures and established mechanisms to ensure that women really benefit from tourism.

“I want to enable women to become socially and economically empowered. More than anything I want this initiative to address issues of poverty reduction and give women a chance to earn a living with equity and dignity,” said Mrs. Nilofar Bakhtiar.

UNWTO Deputy Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, said that “Ranging from 60-70 %, the percentage of women employed in the tourism sector is already relatively high; our joint action, will let us also improve the quality and conditions of women’s employment in tourism, as well as create increased economic opportunities for self-employed women and micro-entrepreneurs.”

During ITB Berlin, more than 70 tourism representatives, including the first female Minister of Tourism from Palestine, H.E. Ms. Khouloud Daibes, as well as H.E. Ms. Maha Kathib, Minister of Tourism of Jordan, participated in a discussion following UNWTO’s presentation of its Action Plan for the next two years.

The Plan encompasses the following activities:

• Establish a multi-stakeholder TASKFORCE;
• Put in place of a DATA COLLECTION system, including desk research and case studies;
• Initiate a BIENNIAL UNWTO-UNIFEM REPORT on the situation of women in tourism;
• Expand the website www.tourismgender.com into a PORTAL to serve as a global knowledge sharing e-network;
• Build INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS about opportunities for women in tourism;
• Call upon UNWTO MEMBERS to take vigorous steps to support gender mainstreaming in national development processes so as to achieve women’s equality in the tourism sector;
• Foster a NETWORK of activists, ambassadors and advocates and experts in gender issues from around the world.

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Starting on 20 April, UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli will visit Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania and Kenya, underscoring the Organization’s support of their tourism potential. These countries are now back on track to relaunch their tourism offer and start receiving international visitors under improved conditions.

Overall, Africa has sustained its above average tourism growth with international arrivals above 8% in 2007, representing 44 million additional travellers, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

“These figures prove that tourism has the potential to foster sustainable development and Africa as a whole is among the top growing regions. But many countries who have experienced less favourable developments in the recent past have now the opportunity to regain tourism strength”, Francesco Frangialli said.

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is overcoming internal tensions, led by a new interim government of national unity. The announcement this week that a Presidential election will be held by the end of November constitutes a positive signal sent to the international community. The country seems ready to pick up again tourism growth and to work towards becoming the important destination it has been in the past. This represents an opportunity for diversifying an economy employing the majority of its workforce in agriculture and related activities.

After the events that led to the suspension of the Paris-Dakar Rally, conditions in Mauritania are returning to normality. Also here, tourism represents an opportunity for economic diversification for a country which relies heavily on agriculture, livestock and iron exports.

With the constitution of a new Government of national unity, Kenya is regaining stability after the unrest posted by the election process at the end of 2007, which strongly affected tourism. The country has always been one of the main African destinations, with 1.6 million international arrivals in 2006. International tourism has now the opportunity to experience a strong comeback, thanks to the famed wildlife and costal attractions.

“In the same spirit as my recent participation at the National Tourism Conference in Algeria, after the terrorist attacks this country has endured, our active support to countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania and Kenya comes at a critical point in time, given the current global economic outlook. These countries are starting to recover in many ways, and UNWTO underscores that tourism is a means to support this positive development”, Mr. Frangialli added.

Francesco Frangialli will visit Côte d’Ivoire from 20 to 22 April, Mauritania from 22 to 24 April, and Kenya on 6 and 7 May.

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Desperately seeking more revenue to pay for pricier fuel, US Airways said yesterday that it would impose a fee of $5 to $30 on coach passengers who want an aisle or window seat at the front of a plane.

Calling its program “Choice Seats,” the airline said that starting May 7, customers could reserve the seats up to 24 hours in advance if they checked in and got a boarding pass at its Web site, www.usairways.com, at least 90 minutes before a scheduled departure. Customers checking in at an airport also may be able to reserve a seat for the fee if one is available.

Air travelers irked by the fee – part of what airlines call “a la carte pricing” to capture more revenue – might get relief from another development announced yesterday. The U.S. Department of Transportation ordered airlines to double the compensation they must pay passengers – up to $800 – for bumping them from a flight. Airlines said the rule might result in less service to smaller cities.

The intrusions into passengers’ pockets are part of a trend in the industry. Airlines steadily have added fees for services that used to be included in the price of a ticket. It started with charging for meals and snacks, and now extends, on some airlines, to pillows and blankets. US Airways recently said it would charge $25 for a second piece of checked baggage, a fee that most other major carriers have matched.

The seat fee is not new. Several other U.S. carriers, including Northwest Airlines Corp., Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines Inc., have adopted similar policies that let customers pay extra to sit in certain seats.

Still, word of US Airways’ move animated some Internet discussion boards, with reactions varying from scorn to resignation or grudging acknowledgment of rising costs.

The news did not faze Neil Forbes, 53, of Coventry, England, who was checking in yesterday at Philadelphia International Airport for a flight to Alabama. He said extra fees were fine as long as they were optional, “without deteriorating other services.”

Besides, Forbes said, “coming from the U.K., low-budget airlines charge all kinds of additional fees on top of your basic fare, disguising the real price of the ticket.”

Steve Devine, 46, an engineer from Philadelphia who was checking in for a flight to Nashville, said he would just sit somewhere else on a plane.

“So it’s OK for me,” said Devine, a business traveler more bothered by other things. “If I could just print out my boarding pass when checking in online, and I did not have to stand in line to get it at the airport, that would be worth $5.”

Under the US Airways program, it is possible that none of the extra-fee seats even will be available because the airline’s frequent fliers with “preferred” status – those who fly at least 25,000 miles a year – already can reserve the same seats for free at any time after buying a ticket. That policy will continue under the Choice Seats program, the airline said.

US Airways Group Inc., in a message to employees, billed the extra cost “as little as $5.” The airline revealed the full range of the seat charges only in a separate e-mail. They are:

$30 to Europe.

$25 to Hawaii.

$20 to Latin America, the Caribbean and Bermuda from Philadelphia, and $15 from other cities.

$15 on domestic flights of 1,101 miles or more.

$10 on flights of 501 to 1,100 miles.

$5 on flights of 500 miles or less.

US Airways said about 8 percent of the seats on most flights would be included in the Choice Seats program.

The only aircraft type to which it will not apply is the Saab 340, a turboprop plane flown by US Airways Express carriers.

The program also does not apply to exit-row seats, which often are sought by experienced travelers because they have extra legroom.

On the new bumping-compensation rule to take effect next month, the government said travelers forced onto another flight that took them to their domestic destination more than two hours late would be paid the full price of their fare, up to $800.

If bumped passengers on domestic flights arrive less than two hours after their original arrival time, they can get $400. The arrival time limit is four hours for international flights. The payments are in addition to the value of the passenger’s ticket, which can be used for alternative transportation or be refunded if unused.

The new bumped-fliers rule also applies to more planes, covering most aircraft that carry more than 30 passengers rather than 60.

“This rule will ensure fliers are more fairly reimbursed,” Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a statement.

The previous $200 and $400 limits had not been raised since 1978.

The Air Transport Association, which represents the nation’s largest carriers, and the Regional Airline Association both complained.

“This administration . . . is tone deaf to the incredible challenges this industry is going through,” said Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association

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