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/ 13 February 2008

Scopa rebuffs DA effort to discuss arms deal

A resolution to open up the arms deal to further discussion was shot down by the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday. Democratic Alliance MP Eddie Trent, who brought the proposal, finally withdrew it and agreed to the suggestion that the committee merely look into what progress has been made in implementing Scopa’s recommendations.

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/ 13 February 2008

Railway police arrest more than 7 000 people

The railway police have arrested 7 487 people during the last 10 weeks, the National Rail-Crime Combating Forum said in a statement on Wednesday. ”The presence of policemen and policewomen within the rail environment is certainly having a huge impact on crime prevention as well as the safety of commuters,” the forum said.

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/ 13 February 2008

JSE slightly lower on miners

South African stocks were slightly lower at midday on Wednesday as heavily weighted miners continue to falter on falling metal prices, while other investors refrained from making any large moves ahead of Wall Street opening. At midday, the broader all-share index had was off 0,18% at 28 533,810.

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/ 13 February 2008

Hamilton tops Formula One testing in Spain

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, the victim of racial abuse from Spanish fans earlier this month, took top honours on Tuesday in Formula One pre-season testing in southern Spain. The McLaren driver was fastest among the 16 drivers on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit with a time of one minute 19,102 seconds, beating his previous best time on the same track.

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/ 13 February 2008

New rules mean a new ball game in Super 14

New laws more than new faces will add an element of unpredictability to the 2008 Super 14 rugby competition that kicks off Friday. The shadow of last year’s World Cup hangs over the tournament, adding a touch of intrigue, but it may be the adaptability of players to the experimental law variations that bears most heavily on its outcome.

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/ 13 February 2008

Shock horror for would-be power cable thief

Police in central England are hunting for a badly scorched would-be copper power cable thief after finding a hacksaw embedded in an 11 000 volt power cable on Saturday night. The thief, who also left a lit blow torch at the scene, is expected to be badly charred, spiky haired and not exactly the brightest bulb in the socket.

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/ 13 February 2008

Ships fuel rising tide of emissions

When the world’s largest merchant ship ferries its monthly cargo of 13 000 containers between China and Europe it burns nearly 350 tonnes of fuel a day. The Emma Maersk supplies Britain with everything from toys and food to clothes and televisions, but its giant diesel engine can emit more than 300 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

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/ 13 February 2008

Ljubicic sneaks into second round at SAA Open

Top seed Ivan Ljubicic had to survive a second-set scare before putting away qualifier Lamine Ouahab of Algeria in the first round of the SAA Tennis Open at Selborne Park on Tuesday. After one hour and 40 minutes, the Croatian finally won through 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and set up a second round encounter against Laurent Recourderc of France.