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/ 19 April 2007

Affirmative action ‘not about discriminating’

Correctly applied, affirmative action is not about discriminating against white people, said public service commissioner JD Squire Mahlangu on Thursday. He was speaking at a Cape Town conference on human-resource management in the public sector. The conference, the first of its kind, has drawn about 250 delegates from all over the world.

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/ 19 April 2007

Sexwale appointed to influential global think tank

Mvelaphanda Group chairperson Tokyo Sexwale has joined the prestigious Brookings Institution’s International Advisory Council. Founded 90 years ago in Washington DC, the Brookings Institution is known for independent research and influential advice to policymakers in the United States and around the world, his office said in a statement on Thursday.

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/ 19 April 2007

Extremist group beheads captives in Philippines

Six road workers kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked Muslim extremists were found beheaded on Thursday in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, the military said. The severed heads of the six mostly Christian workers were found in the jungles of Jolo by soldiers, four days after the workers were seized, said Major General Ruben Rafael.

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/ 19 April 2007

SA, Singapore eye free-trade agreement

Singaporean President Sellapan Ramanathan again pushed for a free-trade agreement between his country and South Africa during discussions with President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria on Thursday. ”As South Africa we indeed want this free-trade agreement,” Mbeki answered, but said the issue was still being discussed in the Southern Africa Customs Union.

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/ 19 April 2007

Let sleeping Oggs lie

Last week’s feature about the possible future of audio file formats attracted much feedback — which is odd, because most people don’t really care which ones they use, and may not even know what they are. But it turns out there’s a handful of open-source evangelists who think you should use Ogg or Ogg Vorbis.

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/ 19 April 2007

How to be a cellphone media magnate

Rupert Murdoch, watch your step. I am coming to get you. I have just launched my own global TV station from my cellphone and laptop. So far, the total audience at any one moment hasn’t risen above eight, but everyone has to start somewhere now that the creative revolution is offering everyone the opportunity to be a producer as well as a consumer.

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/ 19 April 2007

Yesterday’s games: Gold dust to collectors?

Video games, by their very nature, are considered disposable commodities. Today’s cutting-edge masterpiece is tomorrow’s laughable relic, and even those few titles that maintain their appeal can easily be picked up in bumper nostalgia packs like Sega’s recent, and in my opinion unmissable, <i>Mega Drive Collection</i> on PlayStation Portable.

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/ 19 April 2007

Labour inspectors shut down their own offices

Labour offices in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga were shut down by their own inspectors after being found to pose a serious health hazard to workers, the Department of Labour said on Thursday. A notice halting all the activities was issued on Tuesday. A department spokesperson said inspectors found that the building had a water leak in the ceiling.