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/ 29 August 2006

Sri Lankans displaced by war face bleak future

Sheltering from the sun under a ragged awning in one of dozens of cramped refugee camps in Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged east, 18-year-old Sharmila Rahim dreams of being a teacher. But her village was wrecked, her house damaged and her school books burnt as the military and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels began a new chapter of a two-decade civil war earlier this month.

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/ 29 August 2006

Former British soldier offers rare take on Delhi

Watching a dead body being bathed in "holy" river water for a funeral may be an unusual thing to do for a guided tour, but that’s the point of an outing with Nigel Hankin. Almost everything about the "Nigel tour" of Delhi is far from the usual, right down to seeking an appointment — the 87-year-old Hankin does not have a telephone or internet connection.

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/ 29 August 2006

Volvo’s beautiful cruiser

The latest version of the Volvo C70 coupé comes with a retractable steel roof. What larks! At the touch of a button, the boot lid launches itself skywards and the roof rears up, splits into three segments and peels off towards the back of the car. At which point anyone familiar with that recent Citroën television advertising campaign may experience a momentary spike of panic, fearing that the car is about to transform into a robot — with you still wrapped in it.

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/ 29 August 2006

Toyota’s capable diesel RAV4

Toyota Motors South Africa is fiercely protective of the reputation of its products and for years refused to introduce diesel-engined passenger cars to the local market because our diesel fuel contained an enormous amount of sulphur — up to 300 times the amount that is considered acceptable in Europe and the United States.

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/ 29 August 2006

Mission accomplished: Cruise finds movie money

Turns out finding money to make movies was an easy mission for Tom Cruise. Only days after the Mission: Impossible movie star effectively was fired by Paramount Pictures, Cruise, his film partner Paula Wagner and an investment fund run by professional football team owner Daniel Snyder agreed on Monday to a financing package that puts Cruise back in business.

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/ 29 August 2006

Economists predict July PPI at at 7,5%

The increase in South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) is expected to have risen to 7,5% year-on-year in July, unchanged from the surprise 7,5% increase in June, a survey of 12 economists by I-Net Bridge has found. Forecasts ranged from 7% y/y to 9,3% y/y, although only four of the 12 economists surveyed expected the increase to be above 7,5%.

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/ 29 August 2006

SABMiller seen eyeing Foster’s

Several foreign takeover suitors are understood to be sizing up the Foster Group for a potential takeover, the <i>Sydney Morning Herald</i> reported on Tuesday. "The world’s largest brewer, InBev, is believed to be running the rule over Foster’s, with its next largest competitor, SABMiller, rumoured to be also be mulling over whether to make a AUS$11-billion-plus play for Australia’s largest wine and beer group," the report said.

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/ 29 August 2006

Pilger lashes ‘whiter than white’ ANC

Journalist John Pilger is scathing in his criticism of the ”whiter than white” economic policies of the South African government, which he says have enriched a few blacks at the expense of millions of others. In his new book Freedom Next Time, the combative Australian-born writer says the African National Congress (ANC) sold its soul to corporate bosses over glasses of single-malt whisky.