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/ 13 February 2008

Power cuts take toll on mines, factories

Manufacturing slowed in December and mining output also fell, official data showed, fanning concern the economy’s two main power consumers will suffer from electricity constraints this year. At the same time, the Bureau for Economic Research warned that power shortages may trim the pace of economic growth to 3,4% this year.

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/ 13 February 2008

Obama sweeps Potomac primaries

Barack Obama easily won three more Democratic nominating contests on Tuesday, extending his winning streak over rival Hillary Clinton and building momentum in a hard-fought United States presidential race. Obama rolled to decisive victories in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, running his hot streak to eight consecutive wins.

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/ 13 February 2008

At the helm of VUT

"My first year was accompanied by excitement — finally I reached what I had wanted. But I was aware that I was in an environment riddled with turbulence and had to address issues without causing too much resistance. As a new person I knew I would be faced with decision-making traps. It was a humbling experience," Professor Irene Moutlana tells Cornia Pretorius.

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/ 13 February 2008

The good thing about audits …

In the past four years, several universities and private providers of higher education have been quality audited by the council on higher education’s subcommittee, the higher education quality committee (HEQC). The audits follow a worldwide trend and enable the HEQC to have a national picture of quality arrangements in higher education and to monitor system- and sector-level quality improvement.

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/ 13 February 2008

Playing Cupid for a nation

Worried that a low birth rate could threaten the country’s very survival, Singapore’s government is playing Cupid, using Valentine’s Day to promote romance and marriage. In a city where many singles say they are too busy making money to make love, the government plans to step up its official "Romancing Singapore" campaign on Thursday.

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/ 13 February 2008

A life’s journey

Nur knew that as a Bedouin — an Arab nomad — living­ in poverty in Israel’s Negev desert, the likelihood of going to university was remote. As a woman, it was almost unheard of. Tribal norms and finances ruled it out. So the 18-year-old applied in secret to Ben-Gurion University — and was accepted. Nur (a pseudonym) knew that she needed her father’s permission to go and that he had denied it.

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/ 13 February 2008

Monash ready to go it alone

The institution, in Ruimsig, west of Johannesburg, was set up by Australia’s Monash University in 2000/01 as one of two satellite campuses in other countries. The mother institution invested about R450-million in property, equipment and running costs in the South African operation.