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/ 9 September 2005

What if the alliance splits?

A top leadership team from the African National Congress, South African Communist Party and Congress of South African Trade Unions has been assembled to try to ensure that Saturday’s crucial national executive committee meeting is a "talk-out" rather than a "shoot-out".

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/ 9 September 2005

Conspiracy or lobbying?

When does political lobbying against an opponent become a political conspiracy? Put differently, if we accept that President Thabo Mbeki is opposed to Jacob Zuma succeeding him, is there evidence to suggest that he has improperly intervened to make sure Zuma is not the next president?

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/ 9 September 2005

Ministry of over-investment

Minister of Minerals and Energy Lindiwe Hendricks threw up her hands at escalating fuel prices, saying there was nothing the government could do. But administered prices, those set by regulation, make up a large part of the fuel price and the evidence is that the government has been doing a poor job in keeping price increases in line with inflation.

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/ 9 September 2005

Will the US run out of steam?

The world economy faces "serious risks of a setback", the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development warns in its annual trade and development report. The report from Unctad says the world economy is still expanding, but the moderation of growth over the first half of 2005 should serve as a warning.

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/ 9 September 2005

What’s good for the goose

It is with a sense of jealousy, a feeling of having lost out, that I see King Mswati III of Swaziland is taking unto himself his 13th wife. I don’t for a moment want to garnish myself with 13 wives, however young and attractive they may be; how sensually they disport themselves at the Sea Point reed dances.

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/ 9 September 2005

Cannabis for slimmers?

Scientists have unveiled an unlikely weapon in the battle against the bulge: cannabis. Anyone who has ever inhaled will know the feeling: an inescapable desire to eat everything in sight, a state called the munchies. But a Scottish neuro-pharmacologist says there is more to the cannabis story.

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/ 9 September 2005

Israel’s ‘revenge killings’

From a distance of 70m and through the sight of his machine gun, Assaf could tell that the Palestinian man was aged between 20 and 30, unarmed and trying to get away from an Israeli tank. But the details didn’t matter much, because Assaf’s orders were to “fire at anything that moved”.

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/ 9 September 2005

The secret life of a house dad

What’s it really like to be a stay-at-home dad? If you believe Steve Cochrane, (”Saint Dad”, August 5) fathers who become the prime caregiver have halos the size of pizza plates. I have been a ”house husband” (yes, I loathe the term too!) for nearly 14 years, so, welcome to the secret life of a house dad.

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/ 9 September 2005

Billions blowing in the wind

Cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina will produce the biggest insurance bill in history, possibly as much as -billion — twice as much as some early estimates. The prediction by Dane Douetil, chief executive of Brit Insurance, was accompanied by forecasts of rising premiums, particularly for commercial property and reinsurance in the United States.