Staff Reporter
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/ 27 February 2008

Nedbank lifts headline earnings 33,8%

Nedbank Group, South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, said on Wednesday 2007 headline earnings per share rose 33,8% despite rising household debt, but it warned of increasing default rates. Nedbank, majority-owned by insurer Old Mutual, said 2007 headline earnings rose 33,5% to R5,921-billion as its retail and corporate units grew on higher investment in infrastructure.

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/ 27 February 2008

India’s aggression pleases Kirsten

India’s new cricket coach Gary Kirsten said on Wednesday he was impressed with the team’s aggressive attitude despite controversies on their ongoing tour of Australia. ”What I like about Indian cricket as a whole now, and especially about the young players, is that they are ready to accept the battle,” said the former South African batsman, who officially takes over as coach next month.

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/ 27 February 2008

Cosatu’s Madisha given marching orders

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) axed Willie Madisha as its president on Wednesday over his involvement in a missing donation scandal. This comes after a commission probing the matter presented its findings and recommendations to Cosatu’s central executive committee at its meeting this week.

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/ 27 February 2008

Talks fail: Army is Kenya’s best hope

Britain on Tuesday said that the Kenyan army is now ”by far the best option” to stop a sectarian bloodbath as peace talks in Nairobi between the government and opposition were suspended. Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan suspended talks between the government and the opposition negotiating teams after it became clear they were going nowhere.

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/ 27 February 2008

Toll from Cyclone Ivan rises to 60

The death toll in Madagascar from Cyclone Ivan stood at 60 on Tuesday, with another 17 missing, the government said. Figures released by the disaster management centre also said 147 000 were homeless because of the cyclone that hit on February 17 carrying winds of up to 230km/h and torrential rains.

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/ 27 February 2008

EU hits Microsoft with record €899m antitrust fine

The European Commission fined Microsoft a record €899-million on Wednesday for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust ruling against the United States software giant. The fine comes on top of the €497-million that Microsoft already had to pay after Europe’s top antitrust watchdog found the company guilty in 2004 of abusing its dominant market power.

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/ 26 February 2008

Argentina invited to play Mandela match

Argentina have been invited to play world champions South Africa in a Test match in August to mark former president Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, the Argentine union (UAR) said. The UAR has contacted European club authorities to ask for the release of their international players for the Test in Johannesburg.