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/ 13 December 2005

Brits need to mind the wealth gap

If you want to enter terrain so wildly out of date that mere mention of it has become taboo, then you’ve come to the right place. Brace yourself. In October, two bankers strode into Umbaba, one of London’s most modish watering holes and asked the bartender to fix them a drink. Not any drink, you understand, but the most expensive cocktail he could concoct.

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/ 13 December 2005

Catching up with Malawi’s female legislators

More than a year ago, Inter Press Service (IPS) profiled several of the women who had won seats in Malawi’s Parliament, something that enabled them to break new ground in the drive to make the legislature less of male-dominated forum.This month, IPS decided to catch up with some of the women again. Had their experiences in Parliament lived up to expectations — or down to apprehensions?

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/ 13 December 2005

The vitality of difference

More than six months after the hearing, the Constitutional Court finally brought some Christmas cheer when it handed down judgement in the case of Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie. The length of time the court took to decide on the constitutionality of gay marriages led many to believe that the court was divided, and that conflicting judgements would be handed down.

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/ 12 December 2005

Govt denies fuel shortages

As motorists struggled to find petrol on Monday, the government denied any fuel shortages inland. The situation inland constituted ”an inconvenience rather than a crisis”, and motorists should not wait for their tanks to empty before filling up, Minerals and Energy Minister Lindiwe Hendricks told reporters in Pretoria.

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/ 12 December 2005

DA report card: Manto flops, Manuel tops

The Democratic Alliance believes the Cabinet failed to muster a pass in 2005 and performed, on balance, worse than last year, party leader Tony Leon said on Monday. In the DA’s assessment, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was again the worst performer, while Finance Minister Trevor Manuel performed the best.