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/ 29 August 2006

Californians to defy US hemp ban

California farmers are on a high after the liberal state moved to overturn part of a 70-year-old United States ban on growing and harvesting cannabis plants. But those hoping that the so-called Golden State is about to become a marijuana smokers’ paradise will be disappointed.

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/ 29 August 2006

Crash pilot ‘confused by lights’

The pilot of an aeroplane that crashed after taking off from the wrong runway in Kentucky, killing 49, may have been confused by newly configured lights and paint markings, officials believe. The longer runway at Blue Grass airport, Lexington, was repaved last week and investigators are looking to see if that played a part in Sunday’s accident.

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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.