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/ 3 September 2007

British troops quitting Iraqi city of Basra

British troops were quitting the southern Iraqi city of Basra overnight in a move that will end the British presence in the oil hub for the first time since the United States-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The pull-out is another step towards handing over Basra province to Iraqi control and paving the way for an eventual withdrawal of British forces from Iraq.

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/ 3 September 2007

DRC general turns guns on govt forces

Peace accords that were to put an end to the conflicts that killed millions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) are collapsing after a powerful renegade Tutsi general declared war on the government. The United Nations has started airlifting thousands of government troops into the eastern Kivu region, which has endured two foreign invasions and more than a decade of civil war.

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/ 3 September 2007

R1-trillion under the bed

South Africans saved R22-billion under their mattresses in the past 10 years and, combined with investments in their homes, South Africans now save R1-trillion in non-traditional savings vehicles. Non-traditional savings include investment in homes, stokvels and grey money (undeposited cash).

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/ 3 September 2007

Biofuelling the food crisis

Challenged by President George Bush to produce 133-billion litres of non-fossil transport fuels by 2017 to reduce United States dependency on imported oil, thousands of farmers are patriotically turning the US corn belt from the bread basket of the world into an enormous fuel tank.

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/ 3 September 2007

Seeking servants of the people

As the African National Congress’s December national conference approaches, it is critical to examine the factors that will guide the party in choosing its leaders, rather than focusing solely on who those leaders will be, writes Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

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/ 3 September 2007

Study in botched reform

Here’s a story where no one comes out looking good. The story is telecommunications reform in South Africa. The cast is the ruling party, the government, rapacious foreign investors, a hapless under-resourced regulator, a well-paid trade unionist as well as "comrades" who were allowed to enrich themselves in the cause of black economic empowerment (BEE).

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/ 3 September 2007

Iran gives barbers the chop

Police in Tehran have closed two dozen barbers and hairdressers in a fortnight in the latest phase of a ”morals” crackdown aimed at enforcing Islamic dress codes among young Iranians. The businesses were shut after being identified as purveyors of decadent ”Western” culture.

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/ 3 September 2007

Drawing borders fuels conflict

The death toll from the recent brutal attacks by suicide bombers on two small-town communities in northern Iraq crept up above 500, making it by far the worst atrocity since the 2003 invasion. Why did four truck bombers make these people their target? The mind struggles for an answer. Yet there is a potential explanation for their killing.