South Africa

England captain Alastair Cook and South Africa counterpart AB de Villiers look forward to their ICC Champions Trophy semi-final on Wednesday.

Sam Davies converted a last-minute try as Wales shocked defending champions South Africa to reach the IRB Junior World Championship final.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the West that sending weapons to Syrian rebels could backfire one day, but defended Russia's own military contacts with the Syrian government.

German and Turkish scientists have pinpointed an extremely dangerous seismic zone less than 20km from the historic heart of Istanbul.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says the revenue outlook could dim further if markets react adversely to an upcoming announcement by the US.

The death of Major General Tirhani Maswanganyi is a senseless blow to Gauteng's war against crime, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane says.

An immigration officer has appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on a charge of corruption.

Police plans to protect the Nkaneng informal settlement against armed protesters in Marikana last year have been at issue before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Carbon Offset, Legislation and Policy Plug-in electric vehicles are heading for another global market, South Africa, but it may take a while. Eskom, a South African electricity public utility company, told the legislature it will conduct a three-year study to see if the local power grid can handle a bunch of plug-in cars. Testing started in March when Eskom received 10 Nissan Leafs for its program. Barry McColl, Eskom's GM for research, testing and development, told Parliament the testing is being done to determine what effect a surge in the use of EVs might have on the national power grid. Eskom is already vulnerable to rolling black outs as the utility operates with very narrow reserve margins. South Africa wants to cut emissions to one ton per person by 2050. In a country of 50 million, this is a problem for a utility that generated 230 million tons in 2011. The potential for reducing carbon emissions will also be examined, since the country has an ambitious goal to cut these emissions to about one ton per person by 2050. Since there are 50 million people in South Africa, this could be a problem for the utility. In 2011, Eskom generated 230 million tons of carbon dioxide, making it one of the largest emitters in the world. Eskom has already launched a program to reduce emissions through redesigning its power stations in Kusile and Medupi so they emit 15 percent less carbon than other coal-powered stations. It's a start. McColl told Parliament's portfolio committee on energy that the effect of EVs on the power grid could be significant. The three-year study is being done to ensure that the utility is prepared for the future. McColl said that the sale of EVs has been slow - about 100,000 worldwide. Taking time to do a three-year study will only slow things down more, and the introduction of EVs to South Africa already been dragged out. EV sales are much slower than expected in North America and Europe, where concerns over grid capacity in these regions don't get raised much anymore.South Africa taking three-year study to see if it's ready for EVs originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Kim Feenstra (26): Kim Feenstra is a Dutch model of Indonesian descent. She was named the winning contestant of Cycle 2 of Holland's Next Top Model.Feenstra came to prominence as a contestant on cycle two of Holland's Next Top Model. She became known for her irritating voice. Later in the show she confessed to being partly deaf in both ears due to an accident when she was a child. Feenstra gained popularity by her comic sentences and grammar mistakes, while the jury confessed not being 'wowed' by her sexy posing. However, by the end of the competition she won over the jury members with her skill at posing, and her walk. In the final episode, host Yfke Sturm called her the perfect candidate with potential for both runway and photographic modelling, and that Feenstra had the most potential of all the contestants to make it on either the national or international stage. Her prize was a €50,000 modeling contract with Max Models, a cover for Glamour magazine, 3 months all expenses paid modelling in South Africa for Ice Models, and a Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Feenstra subsequently starred on the cover of Glamour magazine's Summer edition.Feenstra is signed to Scoop Models in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Beatrice International Models in Milan, Italy.She played a part in the movie The Last Ottoman in a love scene with Turkish actor Kenan ?mirzal?o?lu.