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/ 10 January 2006
A senior High Court judge urged Zimbabwe’s government to ease colonial-era restrictions on the practice of witchcraft, state-run radio reported on Tuesday. Many in the country retain strong beliefs in the healing power of spirit mediums — known as n’angas, or witchdoctors.
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/ 10 January 2006
South Korea’s fallen scientific hero Hwang Woo-suk faked all of his landmark claims to have cloned human embryonic stem cells, his university said on Tuesday. Seoul National University said Hwang — once lauded around the world as a human stem cell-research pioneer — had carried out a brazen scam that deserved punishment.
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/ 10 January 2006
Zimbabwe’s annual inflation reached 585,8% in December, closing in on the record high levels reached in 2004, the government statistical agency said on Tuesday. The latest figures fly in the face of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s projections of inflation levels reaching between 280% and 300% by December 2005.
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/ 10 January 2006
Stem cell-therapy remains the best long-term hope for suffers of many incurable diseases despite the medical hoax perpetrated by South Korea’s researcher Hwang Woo-Suk, analysts said on Tuesday. A panel of experts found earlier on Tuesday that Hwang (52) had faked his entire body of research on stem cells which won him international acclaim and millions of dollars in funding.
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/ 10 January 2006
The youthful new leader of Britain’s main opposition Conservatives embraced the world of podcasting on Tuesday in his quest to become the next prime minister. David Cameron’s seven-minute MP3 download was posted on the website of the Daily Telegraph newspaper as the Tories enjoy a fillip in the opinion polls.
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/ 10 January 2006
An estimated 96-million people, or 7,4% of China’s 1,3-billion population, share the surname Li, state media on Tuesday quoted a survey as saying. The next-most-popular Chinese surnames were Wang and Zhang, at 7,2% and 6,8% respectively, the official Xinhua news agency said.
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/ 10 January 2006
The countdown for South Africa’s 2006 municipal elections, set to be held on March 1, started in earnest on Tuesday with the publication of the electoral timetable in the Government Gazette, according to chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula, head of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
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/ 10 January 2006
Ten years after the first significant planting of genetically modified (GM) crops there are no apparent benefits for consumers, farmers or the environment, a report made public on Tuesday said. The African Centre for Biosafety and Friends of the Earth Nigeria said that despite the promises of the biotech corporations there had been no impact on hunger and poverty.
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/ 10 January 2006
South Africa has been ranked number six in the top 10 world travel destinations in 2005, breaking into the top 10 for the first time to date, as determined by an annual survey by iExplore, a United States-based online seller of adventure and experiential travel.
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/ 10 January 2006
British Airways (BA) challenged no-frill airlines on Tuesday by announcing a restructuring of its loss-making regional services and a sharp reduction in its budget airfares. Offering one-way fares costing as little as £25, BA’s regional operation CitiExpress will be renamed BA Connect, with prices slashed by more than 40%, the company said.