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/ 22 February 2008

Disgraced Henjak given marching orders

Former Australia scrumhalf Matt Henjak had his contract with the Western Force Super 14 side terminated on Friday, but the Australian Rugby Union have not ruled out him returning to the game. Henjak had been found guilty by a Western Australia Rugby Union disciplinary committee of breaking teammate Haig Sare’s jaw after punching him at a Perth hotel.

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/ 22 February 2008

Eskom seeks higher tariff hike

Eskom wants the country’s energy regulator to raise a 14,2% tariff hike it granted the utility last year, citing escalating coal prices as it battles a nationwide power crisis. Eskom, which generates most of its electricity from coal, said on Friday it wants tariffs hiked even more than the 18,7% it had initially requested last year but which was rejected by the regulator.

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/ 22 February 2008

Truworths half-year sales rise 20%

Clothing retailer Truworths posted on Thursday a 20% rise in half-year sales, at the low end of its expectations, as seven interest rate hikes crimped consumer spending. Truworths said group sales grew to R3,018-billion in the 27 weeks to the end of December, up 20% from the same period the previous year.

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/ 22 February 2008

Politicising sport doesn’t work

COUNTERPOINT: When the Olympic Games were held in Moscow in 1980, the British team did not take part in the opening ceremony. As a first-time Olympian I was mildly disappointed, perhaps more so because it hadn’t been orchestrated by Steven Spielberg. That is now also true of Beijing and I doubt whether many Olympians lost much sleep over his decision.

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/ 22 February 2008

The Olympic prisoners

POINT: The Olympic Games have their anthem, their rings, their heroes and their sponsors. And now, with the Beijing 2008 Games, they have their prisoners. The Chinese government is not just building fine stadiums, it is also arresting those who dare to condemn the countless human rights violations taking place in China.

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/ 22 February 2008

JSE remains down on profit-taking

Profit-taking helped the JSE catch its breath on Friday after its good rally on Thursday, which led the bourse to dip 0,82% by midday. The platinum-mining index gave up 2,09%, resources lost 1,11% and the gold-mining index eased 0,09%. Industrials weakened 0,69%, financials shed 0,17% and banks picked up 0,15%.

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/ 22 February 2008

Tonnes of dead fish wash up on Taiwan beaches

Tonnes of fish, from carp to exotic tropical specimens, have washed up dead along 320km of beach on Taiwan’s outlying islands because of cold temperatures, a local official said on Friday. About 45 tonnes of fish, some wild and some farmed, appeared on the tourism-dependent Penghu Island archipelago in the Taiwan Strait from February 14.

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/ 22 February 2008

Zim told to conserve electricity

Zimbabwe could save up to 300MW of power daily if consumers become more responsible and switch off lights and other gadgets when not needed, the state-controlled Herald reported on Friday. ”Zimbabwe … is in the middle of a severe power crisis. On two occasions already this year, the entire nation was completely switched off,” the Herald said.

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/ 22 February 2008

Cricket’s obstacle course

The Under-19 Cricket World Cup hasn’t been a particularly happy hunting ground for South Africa in the past — they lost to those irksome Nepalese in the plate final of the last edition in 2006. Looking back, it seems the only highlight for South Africa came when the side reached the final in 2002.