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/ 29 January 2007
The sky is grey and a warm sun will not be making an appearance for months but millions of Germans have a tanned glow throughout the winter. Some have a decidedly orange tint. About 16-million Germans — one-fifth of the population — top up their tans on sunbeds, more than in any other European country.
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/ 29 January 2007
Heads of state were gathering in Addis Ababa for an African Union summit set to be overshadowed by a row over Sudan’s bid to become president of the 53-member organisation. Armed police and soldiers were out in force on the eve of the two-day gathering in the Ethiopian capital, lining the streets from the airport to the city centre.
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/ 29 January 2007
African governments have warned South Africa that growing corruption, rampant violent crime and xenophobia are undermining confidence in the continent’s largest economy and threaten the stability of post-apartheid democracy. The African Union was expected to hand a report on good governance to President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday night that contains wide-ranging criticisms.
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/ 29 January 2007
Iraqi troops backed by United States helicopters and F-16 jets fought one of the fiercest battles since the end of the 2003 war on Sunday, as they attacked insurgents supposedly plotting to wreak carnage at a Shia commemoration. Iraqi officials said 250 members of a messianic Islamic group had been killed in a day of fighting.
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/ 29 January 2007
A former Miss South Africa finalist and her husband are due in court in Welkom on Monday on drug charges. Taryn Thompson — who was also Miss Goldfield in 1999 — and her husband, Bruce Dallas, were allegedly caught at Thompson’s parents’ home with drugs and ingredients to make drugs.
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/ 29 January 2007
A convict who escaped a prison van to pay a final visit to his dying mother ended up driving himself on a 1Â 600km odyssey through Dixieland in the country music star Crystal Gayle’s stolen tour bus. Christopher Gay also used an 18-wheel articulated lorry to evade capture during a five-state manhunt.
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/ 29 January 2007
Size matters. Race matters. It’s sad, after all these years, to have to admit it, but it’s true. The size part refers to those who hold the bigger stick — in this case the famous international organisation called the United Nations, which, in turn, bows to an even bigger stick wielded by a big country called the United States.
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/ 29 January 2007
Eskom is de-mothballing old stations, rolling out new capacity and achieving vast energy savings, but with such run-down and stretched power resources, there will be little wiggle room in electricity provision for a long time to come. Recent outages saw Eskom lose 25% of the power on the national grid in the peak of summer.
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/ 29 January 2007
This week, the skiers move out of Davos, leaving the top hotels to the rich and famous invited to the annual bash organised by the World Economic Forum. Davos is synonymous with globalisation and has security to keep out those who believe that the setting 1Â 500m up in the Swiss Alps is perfect for the conclave of Dr Evils intent on dominating the world.
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/ 29 January 2007
The world came to Nairobi, capital of Kenya, this week to talk — and shout — about how to achieve a better world. Delegates attended the World Social Forum (WSF) in their thousands to discuss topics as diverse as poverty, land redistribution, women’s issues, water affairs, government impunity and human rights abuses.