By Chinedu Offor
Nigeria’s multi-million dollar communication satellite is spinning out of control just 18 months after launch. The Chinese built Nigcomsat at a cost to Nigeria of $340 million. It was expected to provide broadband Internet and communications for government agencies. The government says the situation is under control and the satellite is only experiencing power problems. Critics say the device was a white elephant project that was hurriedly executed by former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Paul Ceruzzi is curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He talked with VOA English to Africa reporter Chinedu Offor about what could be wrong with the Nigerian satellite.
“(The) satellite, once it is placed in orbit, has to be managed so that it points in the right direction, just like driving a car down the road. The antennas have to point to the ground, the solar panels have to point to the sun and they (must) have fuel on board (that) powers tiny rockets that do that or other means of stabilizing it. But sometimes they run out of fuel or Sat system breaks down. Then it stays there in orbit and begins to tumble, if it loses contact with the solar panels or (they are) no longer pointing at the sun, then it losses electrical power. If the antennas are no longer pointing at the ground, then there is no way to communicate with it. So it becomes kind of dangerous piece of junk flying at 17,000 miles an hour; it can be a serious problem.”
Ceruzzi says it is unusual for new satellites to fail. “In the early days of the space program things like that happened a lot, actually, unfortunately, but over the years they have gotten more reliable, but it does happen. It has happened from time to time and the other issue of course is that all satellites, eventually run out of fuel and they potentially can have the same fate unless people do things to actively manage them for that day. But for something to fail so soon after launch is rare today but it does happen”.
Ceruzzi says it is difficult to have an advance warnings of the precise location where a satellite might come down. Scientists may have such a warning “only in the few hours or so before it actually comes down. It could stay up there for months or years even and then atmospheric drag will slowly bring it out of orbit. And then, only at the very last moment, do you really know where it is going to hit.”
– VOA News
BELGIUM (AP) – The European Union on Friday banned all Angolan airlines from flying to the 27-nation bloc, citing safety concerns.
Angola joins seven other countries whose carriers are blacklisted from flying to the EU. They are Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Congo.
“The blacklist is essentially a tool that ensures safer skies in Europe,” said Antono Tajani, the European Commission’s vice president in charge of transport.
An October audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency, found “significant safety concerns” with all Angolan carriers.
The EU also bars more than 150 individual airlines from entering its air space, including North Korea’s Air Koryo, Ariana Afghan Airlines, Ukraine Mediterranean Airways and Cambodia’s Siem Reap Airways.
Airlines from Angola banned from flying to the EU – Instablogs.
CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama met with his former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton to see if she would be interested in a role in his administration, two sources told CNN Friday.
Sen. Hillary Clinton has been mentioned as a candidate for Obama’s secretary of state, sources say.
Sen. Hillary Clinton has been mentioned as a candidate for Obama’s secretary of state, sources say.
Obama also will meet with the man he defeated in the general election, Republican Sen. John McCain, on Monday, the Obama transition team announced Friday.
On Friday, Clinton responded to the latest rumors at a transit policy speech in Albany, New York.
“I’m very happy there is so much press attention and interest in transit,” Clinton said to laughs.
“In the off chance that you’re not here for this important issue and are here for some other reason, let me just say that I’m not going to speculate or address anything about the president-elect’s incoming administration.”
She added: “I’m going to respect his process and any inquiries should be directed to his transition team.”
Clinton went to the meeting Thursday with Obama because “she knew Obama wanted to talk about whether she would have a role in the administration,” one of the sources knowledgeable about the meeting said.
Obama and Clinton met in Chicago, Illinois, at the request of the president-elect, the sources told CNN.
The two sources said Clinton was surprised to hear rumors she was being considered for secretary of state position. The sources could not confirm that the she and Obama discussed the nation’s top diplomatic position or that it was offered.
This is not the first time Clinton has been rumored to be under consideration for a position on Obama’s team.
The New York senator was said to be on Obama’s short list of possible vice presidential picks this summer, but Obama ended up picking Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.
That source said Clinton thought the speculation that she would be tapped to be Obama’s secretary of state was “silly” because of the earlier buzz about her becoming Obama’s running mate. iReport.com: Who should Obama pick?
A spokesman for the former presidential candidate and first lady, Philippe Reines, said “any speculation about Cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-elect Obama’s transition team to address.”
On Monday night, while walking into an awards ceremony in New York, Clinton was asked if she would consider taking a post in the Obama administration.
“I am happy being a senator from New York. I love this state and this city,” she said. “I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do.
“But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful.” Video Watch whether Clinton would join Obama’s team »
Other names that have been mentioned for the top diplomatic role include Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democrats presidential nominee in 2004, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and energy secretary in the Clinton administration.
Latino groups are championing Richardson for the top State Department slot. If picked, Richardson would be the nation’s first Latino secretary of state.
A source close to transition team tells CNN that Obama is also trying to build a diverse Cabinet that includes women and minorities and that works as a team.
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Obama’s transition team is expected to announce some high-level staff positions on Friday.
Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs is widely expected to be named White House press secretary, and Obama chief strategist David Axelrod is expected to be picked as a White House senior adviser.
– CNN.com
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC said on Friday it will not join any new government in the country before outstanding issues in power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party are resolved, an opposition offical said.
“Neither Robert Mugabe nor ZANU-PF has the legitimacy to form a government. The SADC resolution does not bestow Mugabe with the right to form a government. We will not be part of that, we will campaign against that illegitimate government,” MDC Vice President Thokozani Khupe told reporters.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – China proposed to Ethiopia to enhance bilateral relations through expanding joint cooperation and coordinate their positions on world affairs to safeguard their interests.
The offer was made during a visit by the speaker of the Chinese parliament Wu Bangguo to the country from November 8 to 10, the official Xinhua reported.
Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), called on in his meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that the ruling parties, legislature and governments of the two nations to step up exchange and cooperation.
Wu also proposed the two nations to focus on three key projects that he believed would be vital to foster the bilateral cooperation, referring to an agriculture technology demonstration center, an all-packed economic and trade project including the construction of hydropower stations and the establishment of an oriental industrial zone to attract investment from Chinese companies.
“China encourage its companies to expand investment in Ethiopia and will adopt open policies on technology transfer and as well as training program for the Ethiopian personnel,” Wu told Meles.
Echoing on Wu’s proposal, Meles said the Ethiopia-China cooperation has become an important drive for the country’s development. The cooperation with China is of vital importance to push forward Ethiopia’s development and the Ethiopian government highly values it, Meles noted.
He said the Ethiopia would make its efforts to further implement the projects between the two sides and consolidate the cooperation in fields such as agriculture, infrastructure and human resource.
– Sudan Tribune
CAEP TOWN – South Africa’s rand advanced for a second day against the dollar as stocks rose and investors increased their stakes in higher-yielding, emerging-market assets.
The rand, which is little changed this past week, declined 33 percent this year as foreigners sold the country’s shares and bonds, partly on concern it will struggle to finance its current-account gap amid the world’s worst financial-market crisis since the 1930s. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index advanced 2.6 percent The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.1 percent.
“The rand is taking its direction from offshore equity markets,” said George Glynos, managing director in Johannesburg of Econometrix Treasury Management, which advises clients on bond and foreign-exchange transactions. “The European equity markets are all in the green at the moment. That is one of the reasons why emerging markets, generally speaking, are responding to lower levels of risk aversion.”
Against the dollar, the rand gained 1.4 percent to 10.167 by 2:20 p.m. in Johannesburg, from 10.2600 yesterday. Earlier, it fell to as low as 10.5051.
South Africa’s benchmark FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index of stocks climbed for the first day in four, advancing 2.3 percent. The index has fallen 32 percent this year.
Government bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 13.5 percent security due September 2015 falling 6 basis points to 8.86 percent. The yield on the 13 percent note maturing in August 2010 lost 7 basis points to 9.26 percent. Yields move inversely to bond prices.
“Over the past couple of weeks, we have also very clear indications that foreigners are starting to see value in South African bonds,” Glynos said. “We have seen bond inflows to the tune of about 11 billion rand so far for the month of November.”
– By Mike Cohen in Cape Town | Bloomberg.com: Africa
