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/ 22 February 2008
The government has promised Anglo American that its mining rights will be renewed under new rules governing the industry — even as data summarised in the budget shows just how badly regulatory barriers continue to limit South Africa’s ability to cash in on the biggest commodities boom in living memory.
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/ 22 February 2008
"We are in this together," Trevor Manuel told Parliament repeatedly on Wednesday, but to many, the song that came to mind might have been <i>My Way</i>, as the Finance Minister rallied investors, bureaucrats, politicians and citizens to the standard of macroeconomic stability and investment for growth.
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/ 22 February 2008
A friend in the United States who watches Barack Obama tells me that he, unusually for a politician, has Mandela-like qualities in that he acts as a unifying force, finding common ground on which to build consensus on the way forward. We could well do with someone with Mandela-like qualities now.
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/ 22 February 2008
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel showed his green fingers in this year’s national budget with a new levy for coal-fired electricity usage, funding for renewable energy and energy conservation, and a barrage of other incentives under consideration.
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/ 22 February 2008
If you’re one of the lucky ones who has managed to buy your own generator, your Eskom-free future might not be as bright as you’d hoped if your generator is lost, stolen or damaged. Finding out whether your generator is insured under your current policy could mean the difference between a bright or dark future.
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/ 21 February 2008
The pet rabbit of Latvian President Valdis Zatlers, Leonardo da Vinci, has died, the Telegraf newspaper reported on Thursday. Nicknamed Lisis, the five-year-old bunny possibly died of stress caused by a recent relocation to the presidential residence, Zatlers told the TV 5 channel.
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/ 21 February 2008
The owner of the Irish castle containing the famed Blarney Stone has dismissed claims that thousands of tourists are kissing the wrong stone every year, the Irish Examiner newspaper reported on Thursday. A new book questions the authenticity of the stone.
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/ 21 February 2008
A magnitude-6,3 earthquake struck north-eastern Nevada on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey reported. There were no immediate reports of damage in the nearest large city, Salt Lake City, Utah, although some residents were shaken by the morning quake, local radio said.
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/ 21 February 2008
The KwaZulu-Natal health department has dropped a misconduct charge against rural doctor Colin Pfaff, following a storm of protest, the doctor confirmed on Thursday. Pfaff faced the charge for administering dual therapy — two antiretroviral drugs — to prevent the infection of babies born to HIV-positive mothers.
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/ 21 February 2008
United States President George Bush, winding up a trip to Africa, promised war-scarred Liberia that the US will see its staunchest ally on the continent out of ”days of challenge and sorrow”. Bush vowed sustained US help to battle poverty and disease as well as an education initiative.