South Africa Car Hire

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar on Thursday, after strengthening significantly in overnight trade, baffling analysts as it moved in a different direction than other emerging markets.

The rand stood at R6.9175/US$ at 09:00, little changed from the New York close of R6.9150, after the weakest level of R6.9250 in the session.

Analysts said the local currency's movements could have been exaggerated due to thin liquidity in the markets ahead of the Christmas holidays.

"It's a bit of a strange situation, because the metals' prices are softer, and other emerging markets are weaker," Ion de Vleeschauwer, Rennies Bank chief dealer said.

"I think what's driving it is corporate orders being pushed through in thin market conditions, and moves tend to be exaggerated in those conditions," he said.

Traders said the rand was likely to strengthen further to reach the next level of R6.85/$.

"It's difficult to say how long it (rand strength) will last for but it will probably continue until next week. General importer demand is not there because most corporates are on holiday," de Vleeschauwer said.

"The rand is likely to break stronger because the dollar is still a bit weaker," another trader said.

The rand was also supported by the euro, currency of South Africa's largest trading partner, which was trading next to its 20-month high seen in early December.

The euro inched up to $1.3190, within a 20-month high seen in early December.

Spot gold was still down at $621.30. South Africa is the largest producer and exporter of the precious metal, earning most of its foreign currency from it.

The markets would be eyeing the producer inflation data (PPI) due at 11:30.

"If the PPI comes lower than expected, it's likely to be supportive of the rand. But the currency has not been phased by data lately," de Vleeschauwer said.

Economists polled by Reuters expected producer inflation to accelerate to 10.2% in November.

Government bonds were also firmer on Thursday, with yields on the most-traded R153 bond due 2010 falling three basis points to 8.10% from Wednesday's closing levels while those on the benchmark R157 due 2015 were also down one basis point at 7.935%.


News was from www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
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Article reference www.24-7pressrelease.com
A Guide to Booking Car Rental Online

Shopping online is fast and simple; and as with most of the things that you can buy online nowadays, car rental is increasingly being bought online. When using the internet, consumers are able to track down car rental firms from all over the globe and are also able to compare prices using price comparison websites. With all of this at your finger tips, booking your car rental online couldn't be easier.

Click Car Hire personally handles all the email requests, and makes the booking on behalf of the client.

In many cases, the price you pay when you make your booking is higher than the price initially quoted (not with Click Car Hire, we have a full price quote) - this is often caused by additional charges such as Collision Damage Waiver (Which reduces or removes the insurance excess) and charges for an additional driver. To ensure that you are getting the best deal, you need find out what is included in your car rental deal before booking.

Tips for buying car hire online:

 It is often wise to book your car rental through a broker, so that should you have any problems you will have the additional customer support.
 Make sure you read the terms and conditions for the car hire provider and all of the details that accompany your quotation. This will ensure that you can compare quotations on a 'like for like' basis to ensure that you get the best deal.
 Before you buy online, make a note of the company's landline telephone number - never rely on just an email address.
 When your booking is complete, print out and keep all the booking details - this could include pages from the website, the booking form and any emails that you receive regarding the booking.
 Always check the cancellation and amendment policies in place.
 A credit card is required by most suppliers, so if you are in possession of a debit card only this would need addressing as cash is not permitted for security reasons.
 Although comparison websites save you a lot of time, do not always rely on the prices that they list, always read the terms and conditions when they re-direct you to the car hire website.

Click Car Hire provide fully-inclusive car rental in South Africa using local and national car rental companies. Our rates are fully-inclusive and they provide customers with a choice of supplier at all locations.

What's included?

 No insurance excess
 No hidden extras
 Unlimited mileage.
 Public Liability Cover for the drivers.
 Third party liability cover.
 Collision damage waiver liability (CDW). This covers you for damage to your hired car in the event of an accident.
 Theft loss waiver (if the vehicle is stolen)
 Airport surcharges.
 All local taxes.
 24 backup service.

To book with unlimited mileage and no excess, visit our site at www.southafrica-carhire.com

Mark Gleeson, Daily Sun

Johannesburg - Mark Gleeson's World Cup diary

Opening round in World Cup scrap!

The first signs of possible government unhappiness with the efforts of the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) came at the end of last week in two separate incidents.

First, a press conference independently called by the government for the first time to deal with World Cup issues, covered matters normally within the control of the LOC.

Deputy finance minister Jabu Moleketi spoke on several important issues, notably February as the start of stadium construction and renovation.

The second was the appointment of cabinet ministers to personally take charge of the construction and renovation process for the 10 venues to be used for the 2010 World Cup finals, overthrowing the main role of Danny Jordaan and his team.

The moves come just weeks after a fight within the LOC over contracts that has reinforced the widely held opinion that many within the World Cup structures are more interested in power and potential profit than ensuring the job gets done.

Not prepared to risk the preparation process being caught up in a personality spat, government looks to have decided it will get on with the show and leave the LOC behind if necessary.

This is in total contrast with the last World Cup in Germany where state played a supporting role but the soccer officials were firmly in charge.

Ministers have been given a venue to personally oversee as South Africa faces a tough deadline to get stadiums ready for the tournament in three and a half years' time.

The high-ranking officials will monitor progress on an on-going basis and will ensure deadlines are met.

Ministers will have duties at two separate venues, giving them an added burden of responsibility.

The allocation, announced by the Sports and Recreation Ministry, is as follows:

# Bloemfontein - Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri (Communications), Essop Pahad (Minister in the Presidency)

# Cape Town - Pahad, Jabu Moleketi (Deputy Finance)

# Durban - Buyelwa Sonjica (Minerals and Energy), Malusi Gigaba (Deputy Home Affairs)

# Ellis Park - Jeff Radebe (Transport)

# Nelspruit - Makhenkesi Stofile (Sport and Recreation), Elizabeth Thabethe (Deputy Trade and Industry)

# Polokwane - Moleketi

# Port Elizabeth - Stofile, Roy Padayachie (Deputy Communications)

# Pretoria - Ntopile Kganyago (Deputy Public Works), Gert Oosthuizen (Deputy Sport and Recreation)

# Rustenburg - Sydney Mufamadi (Provincial and Local Government)

# Soccer City - Thoko Didiza (Public Works), Charles Nqakula (Security).

Jumping the gun

Marthinus "Kortbroek" van Schalkwyk, the minister of environmental affairs and tourism, has promised the 2010 World Cup finals will be an environmentally friendly event - whatever that means!

He has been on a freebie in Germany, being taught what the 2006 World Cup hosts did with a "Green Goal" programme.

Explains the minister: "Green Goal reduced the environmental impact of the tournament by using techniques to minimise climate change."

Confused?

'These included the use of renewable energy at stadiums, and greater use of public and non-motorised transport by fans." Sounds great, but shouldn't we first worry about getting the stadiums up and running?

Security clampdown

Police have committed a total of 30 000 personnel to the 2010 World Cup, ensuring that it should be an incident-free tournament.

The size of the South African police service is to be increased to 192 000 officers by the time the World Cup finals kick off, and 30 000 of these will work around the tournament.

There will be security plans for stadiums, hotels, training venues and routes likely to be used by football fans. But security around the players and stadiums was never in any doubt.

Instead the potential public relations disasters are most likely to occur if travelling fans would stray from the main venues and become victims of crime.

Jabu Moleketi said last week: "We guarantee the safety and security of all the fans and teams that will participate in the 2010 soccer event."

But what he means is those who are at the stadiums and its immediate surrounds.

We support 2010

South Africans are still happy about the upcoming World Cup, even if billions of state money is to be spent on the event. Research shows that more than 80% of the country believes it will be a beneficial exercise.

In fact, a survey by African Response finds the public is even more supportive of the World Cup than it was five months ago. Some 78% of those questioned said they had a personal interest in the tournament.

But the study did find a decrease in the level of confidence in South Africa's ability to provide enough accommodation and eating places for the estimated 350 000 visitors expected to travel here in June and July 2010.

But citizens do believe the stadiums will be ready.

When the last survey was done in June, 73% said they expected construction to be finished in time. Now those confidence levels are up to 76%.

No-name brand!

The "King Senzangakhona Stadium" is supposed to be the name for the venue under construction in Durban for the World Cup, but officially the stadium has no name. Durban municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe says a report for the 2010 Local Organising Committee has been compiled but the stadium has no name.

Various names have been suggested, but no processes followed. At the time the plans for the 70 000-seater stadium were announced earlier this year, KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele said it would be named after King Shaka's father, Senzangakhona.

On the bandwagon

Botewana's government departments have been told to get ready for the 2010 World Cup to try and profit economically from the event. Bobirwa MP Shaw Kgathi told Parliament in Gaborone that a government plan was needed to try and take advantage of the event in the country's southern neighbour.

"Don't think 2010 is just about football because it could bring other benefits to the country," Kgathi said.

He also made reference to the Botswana's Zebras qualifying for the finals - a lot less realistic than thousands of tourists visiting the game parks of Botswana while also taking in matches at the World Cup finals in 2010.


News was from www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
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News was from http://www.pcworld.com

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one world, one google
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Agreement will allow the public to track the space shuttles and space station and more.

Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service

Google and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have signed a formal collaboration agreement that calls for Google to help make NASA information readily accessible on the Web.

Google and NASA today announced the signing of the Space Act Agreement, which calls for them to collaborate on making it easy for people to find weather visualization and forecasting data, see high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars and track, in real time, the International Space Station and the space shuttle.

In short, the partnership seeks to make NASA's work "accessible to everyone," Google and NASA said in a statement. Although NASA has collected massive amounts of information about Earth and the universe, this information is scattered and hard to find and is difficult for the average person to understand, they said.

Google Earth Is One Application

Early fruits of joint Google-NASA work are already evident in the Google Earth mapping application, which now can tap into images and data from NASA, officials from the two organizations said Monday during a press conference.

Those images and data in Google Earth come from the Global Connection Project, a joint effort from Carnegie Mellon University, NASA, Google, and National Geographic. This project has contributed material for Google Earth that includes disaster relief information and National Geographic content.

The Global Connection Project is a good example of the type of material Google and NASA will try to make easily available on the Web, said Pete Worden, director of the Ames Research Center, the NASA group in charge of coordinating the joint work with Google. "This is going to bring the excitement of space travel to everyone in a way that we haven't been able to do in the past," Worden said.

Project Picks Up Steam Next Year

The public will see a steady stream of results from the Google and NASA partnership starting next year. "We're quite excited about this moving along very rapidly," Worden said. The images and information will surface throughout NASA and Google Web sites and products.

"This is a very flexible agreement that allows NASA to work with the private sector and ... make the data that NASA has collected and will collect in the future much more accessible to the public, not only in the U.S. but around the world as well," he said.

Unlocking the access to NASA images and information and making them broadly available is consistent with its mission as a public entity, he said. Currently, many images and information remain stored in NASA databases.

Chris Kemp, Ames' director of business development, said NASA's intention is not to hand over data to Google, but rather put in place the technology mechanisms that will make that data accessible to Google and others. "We're going to be publishing this data where we can, using open XML standards. This is a new way of doing business for NASA," Kemp said.

The two organizations will also tackle what they consider to be challenging technical problems in areas like large-scale data management, massively distributed computing and user interfaces.

Earlier Agreements

In September of last year, Google and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on solving technical problems. That MOU also called for Google to develop up to 1 million square feet within the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field.

The building of that Google campus is still "in very preliminary planning stages" and there is no specific date for beginning construction, Google officials said during Monday's press conference.

NASA and Google also are finalizing details for additional collaborations in areas like research, products, facilities, and education.

Car rentals are aplenty in most tourist crazed countries such as Europe and the United States. Most tourists who visit various countries prefer to take their own private means of transportation and thus become the great season for most car rental owners to grab the opportunity for the valued visitors. The notion for most tourists is that car rentals will cost a fortune, considering that the stay of most people is not that short, hence the need to do some pencils pushing when it comes to budgeting their expenses for these trips.

There are a lot of car rentals in most countries and perhaps the distinguishing factor are the available vehicles they have to offer for most visitors of their country. Among them, Alamo Car Rentals and Avis Car Rentals stand out as the most well known and reliable car rental organizations that are practically present in most countries. In most instances, they are packaged altogether with the cheap hotel accommodations for their stay to avail of discounts given to them usually by travel agencies as well as cheap flights, which prepare the itinerary for the whole trip. A budget alone is not enough. Most people would prefer a packaged tour deal so that they would not have the problems of needing to identify the places, the mode of transportation they have to consider and the length of their stay.

The key significance and benefits that a car rental service provides to tourists is that they have the luxury of time and getting away from the usual crowded places at times, where their time is limited especially when group tours are on hand. Some get hold of discount car rental coupons savings to help ease the load of car rental expenses. In tourist spots such as Greece, Greece car rentals are in demand since there are places to go and lands to explore. Various car rentals such as National Car Rental and Thrifty Car Rentals are available together with Avis and Alamo to widen the array of possible car rental groups to which their specific car needs can be satisfied.

The ideal car that most people would go for are the exotic cars for rent. While the price may be stiff to the pockets, the point of it all is making the most out of a tourist’s vacation in such great places like Greece and parts of Europe. As stated earlier, most people would want car rental preferences such as a 4 x 4, a sedan or maybe even a van, largely depending on how many people are present to be accommodated on. Ideally, people can do preliminary scouting as to the available cars that car rental groups have through the web. Usually, the available cars, if not immediately reserved, may not be available at times, and this is not surprising considering that tours are open to practically anyone in the world for people who want to visit and unwind at times from their stressful lives. Also, advanced bookings and reservations will make the trip a whole lot less to be worried about, especially for people who give due preference as far as accommodation and car rental services are concerned.


News was from http://www.free-articles-zone.com/
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
Its season at the moment in South Africa - take what you can get!
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Pushing presidential elections to 2010 could prove costly for Zimbabwe as it is certain to increase negative publicity for a country that will also be eyeing a share of Africa's first World Cup hosting, analysts warned on Friday.

Synchronisation of presidential and parliamentary elections is one of the main proposals expected to be tabled and adopted at the ongoing Zanu-PF annual conference that kicked off on Friday at Goromonzi, about 40km north-east of Harare.

Presidential elections are scheduled for 2008 but could be moved to 2010 to coincide with parliamentary polls if the Zanu-PF conference approves the synchronisation proposal from eight of its 10 provinces.

But analysts on Friday questioned the wisdom of moving the presidential polls to 2010, saying political violence and human rights abuses “usually pick up in Zimbabwe around election time”.

Zimbabwe was going to hold general elections for Parliament in 2010 anyway. But analysts said topping up the parliamentary poll with a presidential ballot to decide who succeeds President Robert Mugabe could only help lift political violence -- including possible intra-party violence between rival factions vying to control Zanu-PF in the post-Mugabe era -- to unprecedented levels.

"Tension and violence usually reach fever pitch during elections, and nobody in their right mind would show their face in Zimbabwe during an election year," said University of Zimbabwe political scientist and Mugabe critic John Makumbe.

Makumbe said he is convinced soccer fans coming for the World Cup will certainly stay away from Zimbabwe.

The last presidential poll in 2002 that was controversially won by Mugabe was marred by violence and gross human rights abuses, including several cases of political killings.

Local and international observers from the Commonwealth, Norway and the Southern African Development Community parliamentary forum described the election as not free, fair or a true reflection of the will of the electorate.

The analysts said timing of joint presidential and parliamentary polls is important as this has serious repercussions on the economy.

"Knowing Zanu-PF, they will do anything possible to ensure a victory, even at the expense of the economy and the friendship of those few that have stood by the country since this crisis started six years ago," said an economist with a Harare commercial bank, who declined to be named for professional reasons.

He said presidential elections are normally a high-stakes affair where Zanu-PF would “usually not do things according to the book”.

"Zanu-PF is excellent at mistiming. That is exactly what they want to do when we should be making money out of this international event," said Makumbe.

The analysts said the only options available to Zanu-PF are to hold the joint polls in 2008 or after the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa.

Southern African countries are hoping to benefit from the influx of visitors who will come for the tournament.

No word from Mugabe
Mugabe on Friday accused Western powers of seeking to overthrow his government but stayed clear of the controversial plan by his ruling Zanu-PF party to extend his rule beyond the expiry of his term in 2008.

Officially opening the Zanu-PF conference at Goromonzi, Mugabe repeated his usual tirade against former colonial power Britain and its Western allies he accuses of sabotaging Zimbabwe’s economy in a bid to incite a revolt against his government.

“European countries, Britain and [the United States] want to direct what should be done here, direct that there should be a change of government in Zimbabwe. Is it because that they have a white colour which gives them authority to interfere in non-white countries?” said Mugabe.

The Zimbabwean leader says the West wants to topple his government as punishment for seizing white land for redistribution to landless blacks.

Mugabe, who most Zimbabweans say has ruined the country’s once-brilliant economy through his controversial policies such as farm seizures, acknowledged that the country is experiencing its worst economic crisis to date. “We know you are bearing more than you can bear,” he said.

But the veteran leader, in power since Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence from Britain, did not refer to plans to postpone the presidential election due in 2008.

Mugabe, as has become his routine at almost every public fora, also criticised senior officials of his party and government who he said had grabbed multiple farms from whites against state policy of one man, one farm. He said the same senior politicians are again lining up to grab the bulk of deposits of precious minerals recently discovered in the country.

Zimbabwe has in recent months discovered sizeable deposits of diamonds in the eastern Manicaland province, but powerful politicians are already jostling to gain control of the new diamond field.

Mugabe has in the past ordered his officials to give up excess farms but they have ignored him. The Zimbabwean leader is yet to act against his officials for ignoring his orders to surrender excess farms. -- ZimOnline


News was from www.mg.co.za
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Zimbabwe could be one of the most amazing places on earth. Pity
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