Staff Reporter
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/ 18 October 2006

Landmines cleared from Mozambique railway line

The last landmines and unexploded ordnance blocking Mozambique’s vital Sena railway line have been removed, thanks largely to about -million in United States aid, the US State Department said on Tuesday. The humanitarian mine action assistance launched in 2002 ”has saved lives, created jobs, encouraged more than -million in World Bank loans,” the department said.

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/ 18 October 2006

Board warned Pakistan players about drugs

Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairperson Shaharyar Khan has blamed poor education among players for Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif failing drugs tests. Shoaib and Asif were recalled from the Champions Trophy in India on Monday after becoming the first cricketers to test positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.

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/ 18 October 2006

Ellerine expects earnings jump

Ellerine Holdings advised on Wednesday that it expects growth in headline earnings of between 70% and 75% and headline earnings per share of between 25% and 30% for the year ending in August. Ellerine’s results for the 12 months include 12 months of Relyant Retail, which was acquired on May 7 through the issue of 42,9-million new ordinary shares.

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/ 18 October 2006

US to accept 10 000 Burundian refugees

The United States will accept 10 000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania from now until 2008. Tom Casey, a State Department spokesperson, said they were planning to offer resettlement to a group of Burundian refugees who have been in western camps in Tanzania, some of whom initially fled from Burundi in 1972.

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/ 18 October 2006

The wait for a family may never end

No one is likely to adopt Hermina. At 14 she is too old and she also has a younger brother. So, because their father disappeared some years ago and their mother died last year at 32, probably of HIV/Aids, the pair rely on the generosity of others. They live in their mother’s tiny corrugated iron and wood home in Soweto but the family next door has taken them under their wing.

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/ 18 October 2006

US schools in a lather over ‘dirty dancing’

The dirty dancing of teenagers at school functions and prom nights is getting educators across the United States hot and bothered, the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> reported on Tuesday. The teenage dance craze of "freaking" — where couples rub and grind against each other — has been branded as simulated sex by school officials and has led to concern across the nation, the paper reported.

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/ 18 October 2006

The correct lineage

So there I was, sitting in the Lear Jet with my two colleagues and Elvis Presley, looking forward to driving the new Hummer, and wondering how on earth lesser mortals tolerate the long check-in queues ACSA forces them to endure. Okay – it wasn’t really Elvis, but an affable Scottish lookalike called Danny Fisher, who General Motors was flying down from Durban to perform at the launch of their two new brands.

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/ 18 October 2006

‘Urine’ teachers suspended

Two teachers who were arrested for allegedly forcing a 12-year-old pupil to drink his own urine have been suspended by the KwaZulu-Natal education department. Spokesperson Christi Naude said that Philile Mpanza and Willem Kriel had been suspended ”with immediate effect” pending the outcome of an investigation.

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/ 18 October 2006

Drug-resistant TB now in all provinces

Extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been found across South Africa, the Medical Research Council (MRC) said on Tuesday. ”The national health laboratory services have analysed the laboratory data for the past 18 months and have shown that these cases are present in every province,” the MRC’s Dr Karin Weyer told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.