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/ 3 September 2007

Hurricane Felix becomes rare top-ranked storm

Hurricane Felix became an extremely dangerous category-five storm on Sunday as it swept through the southern Caribbean on a path toward Central America and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, United States forecasters said. On a similar — though more southerly — track to that of last month’s powerful Hurricane Dean, which killed 27 people, Felix’s top sustained winds were at 270km/h.

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/ 3 September 2007

Bush’s great ambition: Wealthy boredom

Jimmy Carter has dedicated his life after the White House to conflict resolution around the world. Presidents George Bush the elder and Bill Clinton have campaigned together on behalf of communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. So how does President George Bush junior imagine spending his retirement years?

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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

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

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

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.