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/ 2 May 2006

Stasi film stirs up plaudits and a spying row

It has been acclaimed as the best German film of the year and nominated in 11 out of 15 categories for the German Prize, Germany’s version of the Oscars. But The Life of Others, a film about the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police, is at the centre of a row after its lead actor said he had been a Stasi victim, spied on by his own wife.

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/ 2 May 2006

Olmert announces pragmatic Cabinet line-up

Israel’s new government will be sworn in this week after the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, finally named a pragmatic coalition line-up on Monday designed to push through a major withdrawal from West Bank settlements. The knesset will be asked to approve the government on Thursday, after Olmert drew in enough parties to the Cabinet to get the support of 67 of the Parliament’s 120 members

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/ 2 May 2006

US counts cost of day without immigrants

One of the biggest protests in United States history unfolded across America on Monday as more than a million demonstrators took to the streets to protest against proposals to toughen immigration law. From New York to Los Angeles and more than 50 cities in between, they streamed out in their numbers, waving US, Mexican and El Salvadorean flags.

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/ 2 May 2006

Maybe big is better …

"The new Daimler Chrysler 300C, has been winning awards left, right and centre — including the North American Car of the Year Award. In the past year I’ve driven a variety of cars, including some of the most exotic and powerful on offer, but none has attracted half as much attention as the Chrysler 300C, writes Sukasha Singh.

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/ 2 May 2006

Lighter is fairer

The 1960s saw the advent of skin-lightening creams. The damage done by these creams cannot be emphasised enough, for they left untold emotional and physical scars in the black community. In the South Africa of that time, social hierarchies were clearly structured along the lines of skin colour.

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/ 2 May 2006

Fly Taxpayer Express

South African Airways’s cost structure, twice that of budget airlines, prevents it from competing against low-cost carriers, meaning that its stated intent of entering this market will ultimately be at the taxpayer’s expense. SAA will enter the budget market, which has grown 44% in four years, by year-end.

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/ 2 May 2006

IDC eyes ethanol at $40 a barrel

The Industrial Development Corporation is backing an ambitious project that will cost between R7,5-billion and R11-billion to produce 1,1-billion litres of ethanol a year. The project will fund between seven and 10 ethanol plants over the next decade, with the hope that the low-cost, greener fuel will help off-set rising oil prices and reduce emissions.

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/ 2 May 2006

Aids teen murdered

Aids activists have threatened mass action and a lawsuit against Kenya’s government for its apparent failure to protect HIV-positive people from violence and intolerance. This follows the brutal murder of Isaiah Gakuyo, a frail 15-year-old boy who had been living with Aids.