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/ 23 January 2007

Australian diver says he was swallowed by shark

An Australian abalone diver told rescuers on Tuesday he was partly swallowed head-first by a great white shark but managed to fight his way free, suffering a broken nose and bite marks around the chest. The 25-year-old diver said he was underwater off Cape Howe, near Eden on Australia’s south-east coast, when the shark attacked on Tuesday.

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/ 23 January 2007

Shanghai cabs to be fitted with ‘spit sacks’

Taxi drivers in China’s financial capital of Shanghai are to be issued with ”spit sacks” to curb their habit of rolling down their windows and hawking into the road, state media reported on Tuesday. Phlegmatic cabbies will soon have a sack fixed to the metal grill that surrounds the driver’s seat, so that both they and their passengers can make use of it.

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/ 23 January 2007

Looking ahead for commodities

The Investec Commodity Fund appreciated by 10,8% over the last quarter of 2006, handsomely outperforming its benchmark, the JSE resources index, which rose by 4,5%. Looking ahead, the market is focusing on demand-side concerns (particularly for copper) and the possibility of a large surplus of copper during 2007.

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/ 23 January 2007

Rewarding year for top-performing fund

December brought to a close what has been a very rewarding quarter for the Investec Value Fund, with the month’s 7% return bringing the quarterly return up to a substantial 21,59% — well ahead of the all-share index’s return of 11,8% and sufficient to place the fund as the top-performing value unit trust over the quarter.

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/ 23 January 2007

More of the same, but definitely less

For the optimists, 2006 was yet another triumphant year. Our optimistic prediction at the beginning of the year of a 25% return from South African equities proved still too conservative, as the market delivered yet another massive 40% plus return — despite what was not the most perfect of years. What then can we expect from 2007?

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/ 23 January 2007

White: Have mercy on World Cup players

Springbok coach Jake White is relying on South Africa’s Super 14 coaches to make sure key players are fit for the Rugby World Cup. Unlike New Zealand and Australia, whose national coaches will oversee restrictions on playing time in the Super 14 for their best players, White said he was leaving those decisions to the coaches of the Bulls, Cheetahs, Lions, Sharks and Stormers.