Staff Reporter
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/ 29 January 2008

Zim govt to open ‘people’s shops’

The Zimbabwean Ministry of Industry and International Trade will within the next 40 days open ”people’s shops” countrywide after the Cabinet last week approved the concept, the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday. The people’s shops ”will provide basic commodities aimed at the very low-income earners”.

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/ 29 January 2008

Historical KZN church demolished

Charges have been laid against the owners of an historical church in KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Ixopo area after it was demolished over the festive season, the province’s heritage body said on Tuesday. mafa/Heritage KwaZulu-Natal CEO Barry Marshall said the church dated back to the closing years of the 19th century.

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/ 29 January 2008

UN chief kicks off landmark Rwanda visit

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon kicked off a landmark trip to Rwanda on Tuesday with a visit to the genocide memorial, amid simmering resentment over the world body’s failure to prevent the 1994 massacres. Ban paid homage to the victims of the massacres, which left about 800 000 people dead, mainly from the Tutsi minority of President Paul Kagame.

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/ 29 January 2008

Japanese firm offers ‘heartache leave’ for staff

Lovelorn staff at a Japanese marketing company can take paid time off after a bad break-up with a partner, with more "heartache leave" on offer as they get older. Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed.

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/ 29 January 2008

Harbhajan cleared of racial abuse

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been cleared of racial-abuse charges at a hearing in Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Tuesday. ”He has been cleared — the racial charge has been dropped against him,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.

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/ 29 January 2008

Call for end to press-freedom abuses in Somalia

An international rights group on Monday urged Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, who is struggling to gain control over his nation, to ensure reporters rights are protected in the increasingly volatile Horn of Africa state. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists urged the premier to ”end the ongoing pattern of countrywide arbitrary arrests”.

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/ 29 January 2008

Hospital serves up mouse head on plate

A hospital patient in Finland found a mouse head among the steamed vegetables on his plate. ”Understandably, he lost his appetite,” said Sakari Kela, chief administrator at the Northern Karelia Central Hospital. The health of the patient in Joensuu, eastern Finland, had not been compromised by the dead rodent, Kela said on Saturday.