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/ 27 November 2007
The latest economic releases from the United States point to the growing twin threats of slowing economic growth and rising inflation. Some analysts are beginning to pencil in a US recession in the near future. The problem at home is similar: consumer inflation is above the South African Reserve Bank’s target range still, but the growth trends of leading economic indicators, like vehicle and retail sales, are declining.
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/ 27 November 2007
The press recently had a field day with reports that poverty in South Africa had doubled since 1994. The story seems to have originated with a press release from the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) that was picked up by major media. This is shocking news. But is it true, asks Miriam Altman,executive director of the Employment Growth and Development Initiative at the Human Sciences Research Council.
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/ 27 November 2007
Global warming will send Asia’s social and economic progress into reverse unless action is taken to tackle climate change, according to a report released on Monday. Wealthy countries should slash greenhouse gas emissions and help Asian countries reduce their reliance on fossil fuels by promoting and investing in sustainable and renewable energy across the region, according to the report, entitled Up in Smoke?
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/ 27 November 2007
Consumer efforts in the United Kingdom to go green could spell the end of South Africa’s fresh produce appearing on their shelves. Environmental groups are campaigning to convince British consumers to buy local to avoid the costs of "food miles", the distance food travels from field to plate.
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/ 27 November 2007
The traffic intersections of our major cities have two permanent fixtures: there are the intrepid, streetwise vendors, who, ducking cars, can persuade you that the cheap sunglasses, cellphone chargers and many other wares they sell are the genuine articles. Less combative, but an equally insistent presence, are the beggars, from other Southern African countries, who operate as individuals or as teams.
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/ 27 November 2007
Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister who unilaterally declared independence from British rule, has died aged 88. Smith ruled the country for 15 years from 1964 to 1979, in an ultimately futile effort to maintain white minority rule.
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/ 27 November 2007
The intense controversy surrounding the decision of the Judicial Service Commission to end the inquiry into John Hlophe appears to have reached its end. Some legal wailing and political gnashing of teeth might continue, but Hlophe is here to stay as the judge president of the Cape High Court. But in the here and now, what have we learnt from this saga?
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/ 27 November 2007
Sudanese authorities began questioning a British teacher on Tuesday arrested for insulting Islam after her young students named a teddy bear Muhammad. Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher at the Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested on Sunday after complaints from parents.
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/ 27 November 2007
When 23,4million people around the world stood up and spoke out against poverty and inequality on October 17 as part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty campaign, they amplified the silent suffering of the poor into a roar. But what happens after that? We are witnessing a silent tsunami in the developing world, writes Kumi Naidoo.
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/ 27 November 2007
Reports that HIV-positive prisoners at Durban’s Westville Correctional Centre are receiving inadequate HIV/Aids therapy have caused a stir. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) disclosed last week that they had received reports from prison inmates detailing their plight.