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/ 30 July 2007

Halfway house to an atomic bomb

In the bowels of Iran’s uranium conversion facility in Isfahan strands of black and red wire stretch from the concrete wall to giant white tanks full of a volatile uranium compound. It is by these slender cords that the international community hopes to hold Iran’s atomic ambitions in check.

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/ 30 July 2007

De Klerk defends Mthatha raid

Former president FW de Klerk on Sunday defended his decision to authorise a raid in Mthatha in 1993 in which five teenagers were killed. ”Although the operation was tragically botched, Mr De Klerk himself acted in his capacity as head of government with due deliberation and care and in complete compliance with national and international law,” said a statement from his foundation.

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/ 30 July 2007

Germany leads solar energy market

Hanno Renn, a Freiburg taxi driver, invested in a communal solar electricity system on a building in the German town in 1993. "Everyone laughed and said I was wasting my money," he says. But now he has paid off his investment and earns a regular income from the electrical company for the power he generates. "I have had the last laugh," he grins.

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/ 30 July 2007

A green incentive

Using renewable energy can be expensive, but households can start managing their energy requirements by considering both the demand and supply side of the equation. They can diversify through using renewable sources and the most energy-efficient options. The house becomes the power plant and the shortfall is sourced from the grid.

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/ 30 July 2007

A hell of an affair

"A wise and courageous decision," the then- vice-president FW de Klerk called it when we met in Amsterdam in 1995. These few encouraging words dispelled all our doubts about moving to South Africa. In April 1996, with my wife Patricia and son Ludo, we left Holland behind.

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/ 30 July 2007

A trap for fools

In a classic American western, there are good guys and bad guys. The good ones are the settlers, who are making the prairie bloom; the bad ones are the Indians, who are blood-thirsty savages. The hero is the cowboy — with a big revolver or two, ready to defend himself at all times.

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/ 30 July 2007

Is this the real president?

It is a party trick well known to curious teenagers across the United States. Zoom down on Washington via Google Earth and you get an extraordinary eagle-eyed view of the world’s greatest powerhouse. There’s the White House and its West Wing. Sweeping south-east across the Potomac you soar above the Pentagon. But there is one thing you can’t do.