Nestle compensation dispute
Nestle's claim dates back to 1975 when Ethiopia's then communist government embarked on a mass nationalisation programme. Virtually all foreign owned firms and property were taken over usually without any compensation.
This fate befell an Ethiopian based company called ELIDCO. It was mainly funded by a German firm which later launched a claim for compensation.
In 1986 Nestle bought the German company and took over the compensation claim which now stands at six million dollars. Ethiopia is offering to pay 1.5 million dollars plus interest but Nestle says it's not enough despite World Bank appeals for it to accept the deal.
Ethiopia's Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Mulu Ketsela told the BBC that her country needs to spend all the money it has on saving lives and she's appealing to Nestle to drop the case and put people before profits.
Text 3
The World Health Organisation's annual report on the state of the world's health calls for more equality between countries. But economic and social issues continue to affect peoples' health.
Inequality of health care is still paramount, says the WHO's latest report. Industrialised countries account for less than 20 percent of the world's population but take 90 percent of health spending. In Japan more than five hundred dollars is spent on drugs per person per year. This compares to just three dollars in Sierra Leone. Only slightly more is spent in many sub-Saharan countries.
Over the last fifty years, life expectancy has increased globally from forty six years to sixty five. But today, instead of the gap being between the developed and developing countries, it's now biggest between the very poorest nations and all other countries. The burden of infectious diseases, including HIV, as well as chronic conditions, coupled with a lack of health care, has led to this situation.
However, it's children who are most affected. Almost fifty seven million people died in 2002, nearly twenty per cent children of less than 5 years of age, and ninety eight per cent of these deaths occurred in developing countries.
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European football's governing body, UEFA, has approved new regulations which will restrict the amount of money clubs can spend. The Financial Fair Play Test is designed to prevent clubs going into debt.
UEFA's ruling committee gave the new financial regulations its unanimous approval. After a phasing in period they'll come into force at the beginning of the 2012 season.
UEFA is determined to limit the lavish spending which has become such a feature of the game. A recent report found that half of Europe's leading clubs were losing money, and 20 per cent faced huge deficits.
Under the new rules they will have to break even. Clubs will not be allowed to spend more money than they generate. Rich benefactors will no longer be allowed to subsidise expensive transfers and salaries. Those clubs which consistently operate outside the parameters will be barred from European competitions.
Individual national associations will be mainly responsible for making sure clubs follow the new policy.
· unanimous approval
· all the members of a group (here, UEFA) agree to a course of action
· a phasing in period
· a period of time when clubs can get ready to follow the rules (though in this time they can choose to follow the rules or not)
· lavish spending
· paying a lot of money
· faced huge deficits
· lost a huge amount of money
· break even
· for a business to have neither a profit or a loss at the end of a business period
· benefactors
· people who give money to help an organization, society or person
· to subsidise
· to pay part of the cost of something
· transfers
· buying and selling of football players
· consistently operate outside the parameters
· repeatedly do not obey the rules
· will be barred from
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British Airways has revealed that it made a record pre-tax loss in the last financial year of 531 million pounds. The results reflect the impact on BA of the recession and industrial action by airline staff.
These are easily the worst results in the history of British Airways since it was privatised in 1987. The airline has suffered from the downturn in the global economy with passengers abandoning business class travel. The figures don't include the fall out from the volcanic ash crisis which has cost British Airways around 40 million pounds because the results only run up to March. But they do include losses incurred from the first round of strikes that month.
With a further 15 days of strikes due to start on Monday, British Airways stands to lose another 100 million pounds. The airline's chief executive, Willie Walsh, revealed that he had met the leaders of the Unite union in the last week to try to resolve the dispute. He also defended his strategy of going to the High Court to try to prevent the strike from happening.
Willie Walsh:
"I will look at every option, examine every avenue that is available to us to try and protect our customers and protect our business against the actions of a dysfunctional union who clearly are out of touch with reality and reality is best demonstrated by the financial results that we've released today."
If there are any crumbs of comfort for BA and its investors, it's the fact that the results were actually better than most analysts had anticipated and the airline also says that market conditions are showing an improvement.
· privatised
· changed from being state or government owned and controlled to being owned by private individuals or companies
· the downturn in the global economy
· abandoning business class travel
· the economic slowdown that is affecting a lot of countries around the world
· not wanting to buy expensive tickets to fly in business class (but choosing the cheaper option of travelling economy class)
· fall out from the volcanic ash crisis
· negative financial effects of the recent ash cloud from a volcano which disrupted air travel to and from the UK
· losses incurred
· money lost in a business venture
· strikes
· when workers don't go to work as a protest about their working conditions
· to resolve the dispute
· to find a solution to the problem (here, between management and the workers)
· a dysfunctional union
· a group that doesn't work well effectively or well. Here, 'union' is a legally recognised organization that represents the people who work in a particular industry, protecting their rights, and discussing their pay and working conditions with employers
· small positive signs
· market conditions
· crumbs of comfort
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The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has called on North Korea to drop its "provocations and policy of threats". Mrs Clinton is in the South Korean capital Seoul, the latest stop on a tour of Asia so dominated by the rising tensions on the Korean peninsular.
With North Korea accused of attacking a South Korean warship with a torpedo, resulting in the loss of 46 lives, Mrs Clinton said the investigation had been "objective, the evidence overwhelming and the conclusion inescapable. The international community has a duty to respond."
But beyond a show of solidarity with the South, and condemnation of the North, her speech here in Seoul gave little away about what that response would be.
As a permanent member, China is key to any effort to get the United Nations Security Council to take action against North Korea, and so far in public, Chinese officials are treading a cautious line, suggesting dialogue is better than confrontation.
Beijing is concerned that pushing its old ally too hard will lead to a dangerous escalation. There are hints of that already. North Korea has reacted angrily to a set of trade and shipping sanctions announced by the South, saying it will match the measures with its own, and sever the few remaining lines of communication between the two governments.
Mrs Clinton said she believes that the Chinese understand the seriousness of the issue and are willing to listen. She has left Seoul already, en route for Washington, but the diplomatic negotiations are far from over. The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, is due to meet the South Korean president on Friday, before both men sit down with the Japanese prime minister for a three-way summit over the weekend.
· a torpedo
· an explosive weapon that travels underwater and is used to attack ships
· the conclusion inescapable
· based on the evidence there is no doubt about what happened
· a show of solidarity with
· a public statement of support for
· condemnation of
· expressing criticism and disapproval of
· gave little away about
· did not give much information about
· is key to
· is the most important factor in
· treading a cautious line
· being very careful and trying not to make the situation worse
· ally
· political or military supporter
· a dangerous escalation
· an increase in the pressure and tension of the situation which could make the possibility of military action higher
· sever the few remaining lines of communication
Chinese people around the world are celebrating their most important holiday, Chinese New Year. But for one man in Taiwan, it's all about business as he washes dirty banknotes for gifts.
According to Chinese tradition, parents give their children clean, fresh banknotes at the start of the new year. But such notes are in high demand in the run-up to the holiday period, and Yao Guan Cheng noticed a gap in the market.
Yao Guan Cheng (translated):
"When we first started this business, it was for family members who liked to collect antique banknotes. But later on, it struck me that this service would come in handy for the Chinese New Year. It is one of our customs to put banknotes inside little red envelopes in order to bring our children good luck.
"To do that, people change old notes for new ones at the banks. But here in Taiwan, there are all sorts of restrictions as to how much you can change, what days you can do that and which banks you can go to. That's inconvenient. So I thought: why not give people an alternative?"
He doesn't just soak the notes in water, he uses special chemicals that are a closely guarded secret. His services don't come cheap, he charges about $10 for washing twenty banknotes. But in the run-up to the new year holiday, he's been in demand, cleaning people's banknotes and in the process, giving a new, cleaner, image to the term 'money laundering'.
· are in high demand
· are wanted in large numbers by many people
· in the run-up to
· during the time just before an event or specific date
· a gap in the market
· a business opportunity, a chance to make money by providing something or a service that was not available
· antique
· something that is very old, usually more than a hundred years old
· it struck me
· it suddenly occured to me, I suddenly realised that
· handy
· useful and easy to use
· inconvenient
· difficult, causes problems
· soak the notes in water
· leave the money in water for quite a long time
· a closely guarded secret
· information that is only known to a few selected people
· money laundering
an illegal process by which criminals attempt to hide money from government officials because it has been earned illegally or taxes should be paid on it
Sarah Ferguson has been keeping a low profile while visiting Hollywood after a newspaper secretly filmed her trying to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew.
She's not normally camera-shy but a tired-looking Sarah Ferguson avoided reporters on her arrival at Los Angeles airport. And again later when she was due to be the star of a Hollywood red-carpet event, honoured by a childrens' charity for her humanitarian work. But her efforts to help others have been overshadowed by her attempts to help herself and Ms Ferguson sneaked in to collect her award.
She has said she's sorry after a newspaper secretly filmed her offering access to Prince Andrew for half a million pounds. There's no suggestion he knew of her plan.
In the past Sarah Ferguson has been an author, TV presenter and film producer. But her media company recently collapsed with large debts. She admitted money problems but said they were no excuse for a serious lapse in judgement. This attempted deal, though not illegal, may have gone too far.
· camera-shy
· someone who doesn't want photographers to take photographs of her
· red-carpet event
· an occasion when a long, red floor covering is put down for important guests to walk on when they visit somewhere and receive a special official welcome or a special prize
· humanitarian work
· projects which benefit people who are poor, sick, suffering or in need of help
· overshadowed by
· seen to be less important than something else
· to help herself
· to look after her own needs and desires (before considering the needs of others)
· sneaked in
· entered a building in a secretive way, in a way that would not attract attention
· collapsed with large debts
· failed and owed a lot of money
· admitted money problems
· said that she had difficulties because she didn't have enough money
· a serious lapse in judgement
· making a very bad decision
· have gone too far
Four pensioners have appeared in court accused of kidnapping their financial advisor.
The pensioners allegedly blamed him for losing two and a half million euros of their money during the recent financial crisis.
In Germany, if you think your financial advisor has been giving you bad advice and messing up your investments, you can complain to the regulators, you can go to the police. But in Bavaria, one group of pensioners stands accused of employing a much more direct method of registering their dissatisfaction. They're on trial for kidnapping their financial advisor and holding him hostage.
Four senior citizens, aged between 63 and 79, had invested nearly three and a half million dollars in the US property market and lost it all in the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. They'd concluded that the man who'd handled the investment should now reimburse them.
According to prosecutors, last summer the pensioner posse plus one accomplice abducted the financial advisor outside his house, tied him, gagged him, put him in a box and transported him in the boot of a car 450 kilometres to a lakeside retreat.
He claims to have spent four days locked in the cellar there and to have been tortured. After agreeing to their demands, the prisoner was allowed to send a fax to Switzerland arranging payment. He concealed the phrase 'call the Police' in the text and the alarm was raised. Soon after a crack team of commandos came to the rescue.
On the opening day of the trial, the 74 year old alleged ringleader of the gang avoided using the word 'kidnap'. He said he and his co-defendants had only wanted to treat their guest to a couple of days holiday in Bavaria.
· messing up
· spoiling, causing problems for
· the regulators
· officially appointed people who make sure that rules are followed within an industry or organisation