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/ 9 December 2005
What a difference three quarters of a year can make. In April this year, the South African gold industry was characterised by the cacophonous strains of a sector strangled by a strong rand and rising input costs and about to breathe its last. It had just announced that production output from last year had fallen to 308 tonnes — its worst level since 1930.
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/ 9 December 2005
The robust defence of ”rendition” (flying terror suspects abroad for interrogation) offered recently by the United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, marks the export to a European audience of a position on torture that is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for the George W Bush administration.
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/ 9 December 2005
Mozambique has to develop a more systematic response to chronic drought, which is having a devastating effect on the food security and livelihoods of around 800Â 000 people, according to a recent assessment. The government, with help from bilateral partners, has been carrying out relief operations, and plans to expand the number to 534Â 000 this month.
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/ 8 December 2005
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has asked the public protector to investigate allegations that the media is being used to bring down former deputy president Jacob Zuma. Zuma has also accused the NPA of leaking affidavits to the media.
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/ 8 December 2005
Fitch Ratings has upgraded the national ratings of FirstRand Bank Holdings Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary FirstRand Bank Limited to a long term ‘AA(zaf)’ from ‘AA-(minus)(zaf)’ and ‘AA+(zaf)’ from ‘AA(zaf)’ respectively. The Outlooks remain Stable. All other ratings have been affirmed. A detailed list of ratings is provided at the end of this statement.
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/ 8 December 2005
In a rare concession to critics of the Iraq war, United States President George Bush agreed on Wednesday that ”mistakes have been made” but said US-led reconstruction and security efforts were making solid progress. ”Reconstruction has not always gone as well as we had hoped, primarily because of the security challenges on the ground,” he said.
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/ 8 December 2005
Vanuatu’s erupting Mount Manaro volcano burst into spectacular life on Thursday — shooting steam and toxic gases 3 000km into the skies above remote Ambae Island. Huge columns of dense white steam and muddy ash spewed above the South Pacific island to reach the greatest height seen since it began erupting on November 27.
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/ 8 December 2005
Scalding chickens alive is the wrong way to prepare meat for a McNugget, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said on Wednesday. Peta and socially responsible investment firm Trillium Asset Management issued a shareholder’s resolution calling on the fast food giant McDonald’s to require its suppliers to switch to a humane system of slaughtering chickens.
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/ 8 December 2005
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe opens the annual congress of his ruling Zanu-PF party on Friday, buoyed by his recent big win in controversial senate elections and infighting that has left the opposition in tatters. About 5 000 delegates of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) will converge on the small town of Esigodini in the southern Matabeland province.