Staff Reporter
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/ 19 March 2007

Manto ‘stable and doing well’

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s condition remained stable six days after her liver transplant, her doctor said on Monday. ”She is stable and doing well,” said Professor Jeff Wing, the minister’s physician for the past four years. Wing said there was no sign of rejection of the transplanted organ. ”Usually if there is a rejection, it occurs just before day five.”

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/ 19 March 2007

Trading a World Cup for a honeymoon

I am sick and tired of banging on about Raymond Hack and his troupe of clowns at the South African Football Association. No, my ire has found a new target this week: a man who, for years, has managed to dupe the South African public into believing he’s something he’s not — but now has finally shown his true colours.

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/ 19 March 2007

Sepia-toned support

Across the world, experience has shown that film can only survive with state support. A raft of public sector initiatives to increase the volumes and quality of South African film, television programming and audio-visual material created for new media is on the cards.

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/ 19 March 2007

Passions fuelled in bio debate

An email addressed to Al Gore appeared in my inbox. It is from a number of pro-green biofuel campaigners. Given Gore’s new status as a do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do environmentalist, you could expect that the mail was to ask him to practise what he preaches, cut back on his personal jet travel, install low-wattage lighting at home, that sort of thing.

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/ 19 March 2007

EU pact gets green light

Europe became the world leader in tackling climate change recently, when 27 governments agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and commit the European Union to generating a fifth of its energy from renewable sources within 13 years. Greenpeace has hailed it as the biggest decision taken to fight global warming since the Kyoto protocol 10 years ago.

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/ 19 March 2007

Sweet, separate bliss

It is easy to think the worst of Americans. Perhaps you have just read that they are indulging a new trend — that of separate sleeping quarters for married people. Aha! you think. They are craven, status-driven warthogs, who simply wish to flaunt their wealth by the incredible amount of space they can take up because their houses are so huge. Or maybe it is the snoring.

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/ 19 March 2007

‘People in Zim are facing the same problems’

Recently, judges in Uganda went on strike to protest against government interference with the judiciary. The strike action followed government security agents’ raid on the high court in Kampala to arrest six opposition supporters. The six men, members of the Forum for Democratic Change led by Kizza Besigye, had been granted bail after being accused of planning a coup and of being members of the People’s Redemption Army.

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/ 19 March 2007

Mealies and sugar cane square off

South Africa is investigating two main sources of biofuel, maize and sugar, and already proponents are starting to square off. The windfalls task team has recommended investment incentives for the manufacture of biofuels, or liquid fuels from indigenous raw materials, excluding crude oil and natural gas.