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1. A scientist in Australia reports that he has found evidence that the speed of light is
slowing. . . The measurements taken showed that a 12 billion-year-old stream of light
had properties which appeared to violate accepted laws of physics. He said the only
possible explanation for the unusual data was that the speed of light had been faster
to 1! billion years ago than its current speed of around "!!#!!! kilometers per
second.
2. $lobal %arming
&n 'ganda# record rains of 1(() destroyed *! per cent of its (#!! kilometre feeder road
network. +etween 1(() and 1((,# a prolonged drought in the -eychelles led to the closure
of the -eychelles +reweries and the &ndian .cean Tuna /ompany. . . . 0missions of carbon
dioxide# the main global warming gas# have risen eightfold in Africa since 1(1! to 22" million
metric tons. However# those are still less than the emissions of a developed country such as
$ermany or 2apan. -outh Africa accounts for *2
per cent of these emissions# while 0gypt# 3igeria and Algeria combined account for "1.1 per
cent. 4UN Chronicle# &ssue *# 2!!25
". The -ue6 /anal
.pened to world navigation in 1,( 4and nationali6ed in 1(15# the -ue6 /anal has
become one of the country7s main foreign exchange earners# behind oil but ahead of
tourism. 1((2 and 1((" were excellent years in 8nancial terms# with 1((2 earnings reaching
91.( billion and 1((" earnings expected to exceed 92 billion 4the exact 8gure is not yet
known5# which is twice as much as the canal earned in the early 1(,!s. :ore than 1)#!!!
vessels used the canal in 1(("# representing a total of nearly *!! million tons. +y way of
comparison# *#2!! vessels totalling 21 million tons used the canal in 1(*1. -ince then# the
number of users has grown steadily# except for the years when the canal has been closed
due to various local con;icts. The last closing was for eight years# from 1() to 1()*# during
the war with &srael. . . .
%ith the exception of the <-umed= -ue6-:editerranean pipeline across 0gypt 4a >oint
venture of 0gypt# which holds 1!? of the e@uity# -audi Arabia# Auwait# and 'nited Arab
0mirates# and Batar5# whose capacity is expected to grow from ,! to 12! million tons by
1((*# the 8ve pipelines in the region have gradually shut down. The Airkuk-Haifa pipeline
has been closed since 1(*,. The Airkuk-+aniyas-Tripoli pipeline was closed in 1(,2 due to
souring relations between -yria and &ra@. The Airkuk--aida
pipeline# whose capacity had been doubled to make up for the closing of the previous
pipeline# was closed by Turkey during the $ulf %ar. And the <Tapline= between Cas Tanura in
-audi Arabia and Tripoli in Debanon has gradually shut down since 1(,". . . .
-pecialists foresee that :iddle 0ast production may rise from ,,! million tons per
year today to 1#*1! million tons by the year 2!!! and 1#!! million tons by the year 2!!1.
Absent other solutions# there is no doubt that part of that production will reach the %est
through the -ue6 /anal.
The following are the ma>or characteristics of the canalE
Dength of canalE 1(1 kilometers
%idth between buoysE 1,! meters
:aximum draft allowedE 1" feet
:aximum weight allowedE 1*!#!!! tons
Transit allowed day or night
Faily capacityE 11 vessels
:ode of transitE vessels go through daily in " convoys
Average duration of crossingE 11 hours
-peed permittedE 11 to 11 km per hour
TollsE sliding scale determined by weight of ship. 0xampleE
-ue6 /anal Authority demands ).21 -FC 4-ue6 Fue Cate# i.e. 91."15 per ton for the 8rst
1!!! tons# then *.!2 for the next 1!!! tons# ".1 for the next 1!#!!! tons# etc. The lowest
tariG 41."2 -FC per ton5 applies to weights over )!#!!! tons. .wnershipE The canal belongs
to the -ue6 /anal Authority# a public corporation comprising eight companies and employing
21#!!! people.