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/ 14 October 2005

Diamond Bill: ‘ANC must be stopped’

If the Diamonds Amendment Bill currently before Parliament is passed in its present form, it will damage the entire industry, from mining houses to jewellery stores, warns Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. Even more alarming, he says, is the haste with which the African National Congress is trying to push through the measure.

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/ 14 October 2005

Sudan, Eritrea mend fences

Sudan and Eritrea hailed on Friday a major improvement in bilateral relations strained by a decade of mutual accusations of support for each other’s opposition groups. ”The two sides have reached a breakthrough after four days of strenuous talks, ending more than 10 years of estrangement that were not in the interest of the two neighbours and their brotherly peoples,” said Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Jamal Mohammed Ibrahim.

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/ 14 October 2005

Art relieves constipation, says study

Viewing and discussing art not only soothes the soul, it also helps cure ills such as high blood pressure and constipation, a Swedish researcher said on Friday. A researcher of the Ersta Skoendal University College in Stockholm had 20 women of about 80 years of age gather once a week for four months to discuss different works of art.

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/ 14 October 2005

Billions of dollars needed to rebuild Pakistan

With vast parts of Pakistan still digging out from last week’s earthquake, donors are already planning a massive reconstruction effort that will require billions of dollars over five to 10 years, United Nations and British officials said on Friday. But so far, even the immediate needs have gone unmet for survivors of last Saturday’s earthquake.

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/ 14 October 2005

Bid to get Kenyan, Ugandan railways back on track

Kenya and Uganda will hand over the management of their railway companies to a private investor when a winning bid for the 25-year contract is announced on Friday, a Kenya Railways spokesperson said. A consortium led by an Indian company, Rail India Technical and Economical Services, is competing for the bid against a consortium led by a South African company, Sheltam Trade Close Corporation.

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/ 14 October 2005

New James Bond makes dramatic entry

Daniel Craig, a 37-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed Englishman, was unveiled on Friday as the new James Bond, ending months of mystery over who would play the role of the British playboy spy 007. Production on the 21st Bond film, Casino Royale, is scheduled to begin in Britain in January.

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/ 14 October 2005

ANC defends support for Zuma

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>In its weekly online newsletter on Friday, the African National Congress has attacked an editorial piece in the <i>Financial Mail</i> that criticised the ANC’s support for Zuma in the week that Zuma appeared on corruption charges in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.

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/ 14 October 2005

UK govt loses Zim deportation case

The British government’s policy on deportation to Zimbabwe was thrown into serious doubt on Friday after a failed asylum seeker won his appeal against the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke. The man, who cannot be named, would be at risk of harm if he were returned to President Robert Mugabe’s regime, the asylum and immigration tribunal ruled.