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/ 29 August 2006

Power and the people

Tensions between Iran and the West have rarely been greater than they are today. On the one side, President George W Bush has accused Iran of being behind the attack by Hizbullah on Israel that sparked the Lebanon war; and both the United States and Britain say Iran is bent on developing nuclear weapons. On the other, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has claimed that the Bush administration is trampling on the rights of Muslims throughout the world.

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/ 29 August 2006

Open your mind, please

Apparently it will not be long before uniformed Spot operatives are patrolling our airports. Although this sounds like a parody of a parody — one of those weak jokes referencing Austin Powers that a certain kind of middle­aged man still insists on making — screening passengers by observation technique (Spot) is already up and running in the United States.

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/ 28 August 2006

The Teflon minister

President Thabo Mbeki will keep Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang in her post, despite mounting calls for her to resign. Mbeki has defied critics over the years by showing confidence in her and re-appointing her for a second term even when she had already antagonised stakeholders during her first term.

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/ 28 August 2006

There’s no room

The young man briefly opened his bloodshot eyes and scanned the bleak, chaotic surroundings. His muscular body shivered uncontrollably beneath the white, government-monogrammed sheet as the paramedics lifted him on to another trolley. He tried to raise his arms; his hands and forearms, thighs, chest, back and feet were wrapped in thick, white bandages.

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/ 28 August 2006

Parreira to get R1,8m monthly package

The South African Football Association (Safa) has offered a R1,8-million monthly salary to incoming Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Monday. Safa appeared before Parliament on Monday morning to describe its plans to reshape South Africa’s soccer teams for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

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/ 28 August 2006

Three dead, dozens hurt in Turkish blast

Three people died and dozens more were injured in a blast in Turkey’s Mediterranean city Antalya on Monday, the fifth bomb to hit the country in less than 24 hours. Locals and witnesses said they heard a loud explosion, which broke windows, shattered glass and sparked a fire at a shopping area in the centre of the city, one of Turkey’s most popular tourist destinations.

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/ 28 August 2006

Final argument in Bushmen case delayed

Final arguments in Botswana’s longest-running court case, in which San Bushmen are fighting for rights to ancestral land, will be heard next month after judges agreed to an adjournment request on Monday. The Bushmen’s lawyer said he had applied for an extension as he had only received written submissions from state attorneys last Wednesday.