Staff Reporter
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/ 2 November 2007

Indonesian volcano critical, may erupt

Indonesia’s Mount Kelud volcano in East Java is in a critical phase and could erupt any time a day after being shaken by hundreds of tremors, the country’s top volcanic expert said on Friday. Authorities raised the alert at Mount Kelud, one of Indonesia’s deadliest volcanoes, to maximum two weeks ago.

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/ 2 November 2007

Democrats hocking their agenda

Just more than a week ago, about a thousand activists from the Christian right gathered in Washington to pass judgement on the Republican presidential candidates. At the Family Research Council’s (FRC) Values Voters summit, the values most cherished did not sit well with most Americans. Polls show that a consistent and substantial majority in the US are pro-choice, support stem cell research and oppose amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage.

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/ 2 November 2007

Greenspan warning for US economy

United States house prices saw their biggest year-on-year fall in 16 years in August, a national index showed recently, with some economists predicting a record annual fall by the year end as turmoil continues in the housing market. The figures came as the former US Federal Reserve chairperson Alan Greenspan warned of further difficulties as builders struggled to sell their rising stock of housing.

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/ 1 November 2007

Lessons from the islands

In mid-winter I boarded a 55ft (5m) sailing yacht out of Cape Town’s Table Bay to rediscover islands and what they can teach us about coping with climate change. With the help of the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting and prompted by a dog-eared copy of <i>The Song of the Dodo</i> by the science writer David Quammen, we uploaded video segments of our adventure, writes Jeff Barbee.

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/ 1 November 2007

Commuters hurt in East Rand taxi-violence shoot-out

Two commuters and a taxi driver were injured when they were caught in the crossfire of a taxi-violence shoot-out in Edenvale on Thursday. Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Inspector Jimmy Maboko said between 100 and 150 members of the Germiston Taxi Association and the Tembisa Taxi Association had gathered and began shooting at each other.

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/ 1 November 2007

Matatiele closer to E Cape incorporation

The district of Matatiele moved a step closer to being permanently incorporated into the Eastern Cape after the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday voted by a narrow margin in favour of the controversial Constitution 13th Amendment Bill. Heated debate between opposition parties and the ruling African National Congress preceded the vote.

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/ 1 November 2007

Court urged to release Najwa Petersen on bail

The release on bail of Najwa Petersen, accused of the murder of her entertainer husband, Taliep, was essential to save her young daughter from long-term emotional damage, Cape Town psychologist Rosa Bredenkamp told the Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday. Petersen has launched a second bail application after her first was rejected.