Dede Sophie

Prime Minister  James Marape has given his support to development of the oil palm industry in Papua New Guinea on a massive scale. PM Marape gave his support after he and East Sepik Governor,  Allan Bird, met with representatives of Pacific Elite Palm Oil Group in Singapore on Monday (November 21, 2022). The company currently runs an oil palm project in East Sepik, which it wants to emulate in all provinces, saying that it will be an economic gamechanger for the whole country. The company aims to create the largest agriculture-based wealth in the South Pacific, as well as generate electricity for PNG, using oil palm. Governor Bird told PM Marape that if a long-term oil palm development plan was drawn up, with the aim of economic independence for PNG, one million hectares of oil palm grown all over PNG would bring in an extra K100 billion for the country. “We can double our GDP just from palm oil,” he said. “If we go into downstream processing, this K100 billion could double, so that we...

Mercedes-Benz has revised the electric version of its Sprinter large van series to meet the requirements of some 60 markets in North America and Europe, writes Brian Byrne. The main changes are the development of a modular system that allows for a wide range of conversion options, previously not available on the eSprinter. This system comprises a front module with all the high-voltage components which will be the same for all variations of the vehicle. A middle module carries the battery located in the underbody, while the rear module has the electrically-driven rear axle along with its motor. The van will be offered in two body styles and two lengths. There will be three different battery options of 56/81/113kWh, the largest one capable of being charged from 10pc-80pc in around 42 minutes with a suitable charge unit. An initial markets launch in the USA and Canada in the second half of this year will be followed by a Europe one towards the end of the year. 

Readers, please join me welcoming Gary Stelzer , author of The Cost of Dreams who’s guest blogging here today! In this book, Gary, a retired Midwest physician, draws upon an ordeal of one of his most memorable patients for a novel that’s both a powerful, compelling page-turner and a poignant illumination of a woman’s-and a people’s-struggle to survive. Flora Enriquez trusts that she has found safe haven for her young family in the remote U.S. Southwest, after fleeing the murderous environs of Central America where her parents were slain in a civil war. Only to find that all of her life’s greatest challenges, by far, still lie before her. DREAMS  A book reviewer asked me yesterday if the title of my first novel had always been THE COST OF DREAMS. I answered, “no.” I had called an earlier, much longer, and terribly flawed draft THE DISAPPEARED ONE. A potent and intriguing enough title I think, and not at all a bad fit for the later manuscript. But I mad...