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/ 20 February 2008

Kenya talks continue, deal remains elusive

Kenya’s feuding political parties returned to talks on Wednesday to end a post-election crisis, but remained stuck on how to share power. Kenyans and world powers have called on President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to agree to a deal to halt turmoil that has killed more than 1 000 people,

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/ 20 February 2008

N Korea seeks to ease fears of nuke programme

North Korea has been trying to ease American fears of a secret atomic weapons programme and also denies sharing nuclear technology with other countries, said the United States pointman. Christopher Hill said the North has been trying to show that equipment it purchased was not for use in a covert uranium enrichment programme.

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/ 20 February 2008

ARM says half-year earnings up 34%

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), South Africa’s second-largest black-owned mining group, said first-half earnings rose 34% as it enjoyed booming commodity prices and achieved record output. ARM said headline earnings per share climbed to 353 cents in the latter half of 2007.

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/ 20 February 2008

Coal challenge leaves Eskom worried

Eskom is not as concerned about the domestic availability of sufficient coal as it is with the speed at which it could be mined, <i>Business Day</i> reported on Wednesday. The national power utility is also worried about logistical problems in transporting the coal to power stations.

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/ 20 February 2008

Former Absa chief appointed at Sappi

Former Absa CEO and chairperson Dr Danie Cronje has been appointed as the independent non-executive chairperson of Sappi, the global pulp and paper group announced on Wednesday. He succeeds Eugene van As, whose impending retirement as chairperson and from the board was announced earlier.

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/ 20 February 2008

JSE recovers off earlier lows

The JSE recovered some of its earlier losses by midday on Wednesday, as gold and resource stocks started to lift the market despite the negative global sentiment. Higher oil prices overnight spurred inflation worries among world markets, after oil closed above $100, prompting a global sell off in equities.

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/ 20 February 2008

Grobbelaar weighs into Liverpool rotation row

The row over Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez’s squad rotation system continued to rumble on Wednesday as former Anfield goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar said lack of continuity was at the root of the Premier League club’s ills. One day after current striker Fernando Torres had supported his boss’s policy of switching the first team around, Grobbelaar hit out at the controversial method.