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/ 15 December 2005

No child should suffer cultural persecution

The demographics of former model-C schools reflect the multicultural nature of our country, but are primarily dictated by the financial status of parents. Simply put, the children whose parents who can afford higher school fees can access the superior resources, though not necessarily superior education, of these institutions.

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/ 15 December 2005

Not the season to be jolly

Christmas lights on Harare’s First Street provide splendour to an otherwise dull festive season. Shops are decorated with interchanging colours beaming across supermarkets, luring the attention of children who are reminded it’s a time for Father Christmas, presents, sweets and new clothes.

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/ 15 December 2005

UN launches $174m appeal for Somalia

Civil unrest, a recent wave of assassinations and piracy in Somalia are hampering humanitarian access to more than one million vulnerable people in the war-ravaged nation, said members of the aid community at the presentation of the 2006 humanitarian appeal for Somalia on Wednesday.

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/ 15 December 2005

Vietnam resumes sales of virus-free poultry products

After months of plummeting sales, Vietnam’s poultry markets are springing back to life, selling chicken and eggs certified virus-free, as avian influenza outbreaks appear to be in check. The first major market reopened last week in Ha Tay province, 15km south-west of Hanoi, offering chicken and eggs neatly packed in plastic bags and sporting veterinarians’ certificates.

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/ 15 December 2005

Denel’s R500m garage sale

South African arms manufacturer Denel expects to realise R500-million in the sale of its non-core assets, which forms part of the government’s policy to streamline parastatals and raise much-needed capital. Denel’s non-core assets include shopping malls, office parks, an electrical products company, a soya processing plant and IT companies.

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/ 15 December 2005

R2m spent on SABC meetings

Payments to SABC non-executive board members increased by almost 200% over the past financial year, as the board held almost double the number of board and sub-committee meetings it is required to do. Non-executive emoluments for the year ended March 31 2005 stood at more than R2-million, while in the previous financial year it amounted to R714 000.

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/ 15 December 2005

WTO deadlock

The United States and the European Union spurned calls to end the stalemate in global trade talks as six days of negotiations in Hong Kong began on Tuesday, with Brussels and Washington at odds over support for farmers. The director general of the World Trade Organisation, warned trade ministers that they had to be ”open-minded if the talks were to be concluded successfully next year.