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/ 18 December 2007

Zimbabwe amends media, security laws after talks

President Robert Mugabe’s government has amended security and media laws that critics say have helped him entrench his rule. The changes to the Public Order and Security Act were agreed at talks, brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

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/ 18 December 2007

JSE dips further into the red

The JSE was lower at midday on Tuesday, playing catch-up after the public holiday on Monday when there was weakness in global equity markets. By 12.04pm, the JSE’s all-share index had pulled back 2,38%. The gold mining index fell 3,31%, resources lost 3,21% and the platinum mining index gave up 3,16%.

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/ 18 December 2007

A concealed case of collusion

As the fallout from the bread price-fixing scandal grows, consumers are still not sure exactly what happened, who was responsible and what is being done about it. The executives of Premier Foods and Tiger Brands will have us believe that they knew nothing about the price-fixing and that disciplinary action is being taken against those involved, writes Lloyd Gedye.

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/ 18 December 2007

The climate wars

Climate wars are coming and Southern Africa will be one of the areas most at risk. As environmental resources dwindle because of global warming, people will begin fighting over scarce resources, particularly water and agricultural land. These predictions are contained in a report titled <i>Climate Change as a Security Risk</i>.

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/ 18 December 2007

Thread bare

I call her "the torturer" to her face, as do most of her clients, but that never elicits anything other than a broad smile and a smug nod. She’s diminutive, has delicate features and a soft nature, yet the pain she inflicts easily brings tears to the eyes of her many clients. Three years after being a regular customer of hers, I still wriggle and scream out loud.

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/ 18 December 2007

Not much cheer for children

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, set at the turn of the century, made up the most aspirational development programme ever devised. But a progress report published recently by Unicef says that even though more babies are surviving, more children are in school and fewer families live in poverty, urgent action is needed if the goals are to be met by the target date of 2015.

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/ 18 December 2007

Going green in the classroom

Being environmentally conscious is about more than just appreciating nature — it also means being aware that, for example, in the past 40 years the equivalent of 10 000 Ellis Park Stadiums full of ice has melted in the Arctic region. Remember the dodo? Of course not, it has been extinct since 1681.