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/ 25 July 2006

Falling through the cracks

Fire and brimstone rained down on northern Israel throughout most of this week. And as air-raid sirens sounded and rockets slammed into the country from Hizbullah positions in Lebanon, the state unfurled its extensive safety net. The Israeli Defence Force Home Front Command issued a list of safety recommendations via television and newspapers — including step-by-step instructions on what to do when the sirens sound.

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/ 25 July 2006

Justice system fails Zimbabwe’s torture victims

His hands are bruised. The deep cuts on his darkened face are only beginning to heal and so are the soles of his feet, which were so swollen he could not wear shoes. From observing the injuries you can conclude only one thing: that whoever did this to him must have wanted not just to punish and maim, but to leave a lasting impression on the victim.

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/ 25 July 2006

Learning in times of war

Professor Mosa al-Mosawe has lost 34 of his staff since 2003. And when he says “lost”, he doesn’t mean that they have resigned or retired, or simply moved on to pastures new. He means that they have been shot or kidnapped, never to be seen again. “Around 50 students have also gone missing,” he says, speaking on a cellphone from his office in Baghdad University.

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/ 24 July 2006

Golf-estate developer on fraud charges

The developer of Stellenbosch’s upmarket De Zalze golf estate appeared briefly in Cape Town’s Bellville Regional Court on Monday in connection with fraud and theft charges involving bearer bonds worth over R11-million. Klaus Strauli, a Swiss national, had been formally arrested by the Scorpions at Cape Town International airport.

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/ 24 July 2006

Lydenburg residents to protest name changes

Residents of Lydenburg in Mpumalanga are to march this week against changing the name of their town, contending that correct procedures had not been followed. ”Proper procedures were not followed. We have all the proof of all the minutes of the name-change committee and the attendance registers,” said Democratic Alliance councillor Isabel Dickson.