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/ 20 October 2005

A death-affirming tour of the tombs on a life-enhancing day

Paris, mid-October: a morning of bountiful autumn sunshine that makes one happy to be alive. But we are among the dead, searching in a sector of the Père Lachaise cemetery for the grave of Poulenc. Though we aren’t going to find him here: the names, and the stars where elsewhere there are crosses, denote that this quiet corner, ”amants légendaires”, is the seventh division, the Jewish quarter, and we need to push on up the Chemin Serré.

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/ 20 October 2005

Little support for Car-Free Day

Most people in Johannesburg used their private vehicles to get to work on Thursday despite the government’s call to use public transport and participate in Car-Free Day. Several high-ranking officials and premiers made use of buses and taxis, but motorists in Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein still preferred their cars.

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/ 20 October 2005

Police refuse to comment on Kebble car claim

Johannesburg police do not want to comment on claims that slain mining entrepreneur Brett Kebble’s car was taken to panel beaters and cleaned before forensic tests had been carried out. Sources close to the investigation said that Kebble’s Mercedes was out of police control or custody for ”a significant period of time” after the murder.

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/ 20 October 2005

SA online readership grows 13,8% to 1,98-million

South Africa’s online publishing industry grew 13,8% in local readership to 1,98-million users and 97,37-million page impressions in the third quarter of 2005 compared with the second quarter, the Online Publishers Association said on Thursday. The latest Nielsen/Netratings audited figures also indicate a large increase in international visitors to South African websites.

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/ 20 October 2005

Taxi drivers demand extra subsidy in recap programme

Taxi operators told Transport Minister Jeff Radebe on Thursday that they would accept the taxi recapitalisation programme if they were given subsidies on top of the R50 000 scrapping allowance for their unroadworthy taxis. ”If we get rid of our taxis and get the R50 000 scrapping allowance which we can spend as a deposit for a new taxi, we won’t be able to make ends meet,” said Tom Muofhe, president of the SA National Taxi Council.

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/ 20 October 2005

Israel accused of ‘road apartheid’ in West Bank

The Israeli military has blocked Palestinians from driving on the main artery through the West Bank in a first step towards what Israeli human rights groups say is total ”road apartheid” being enforced throughout the occupied territory. The army sealed off access to Route 60 after the fatal shooting of three settlers near Bethlehem on Sunday.

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/ 20 October 2005

Uganda seeks approval to go after rebels in the DRC

Uganda on Thursday sought approval from its neighbours to send troops into the Democratic Republic of Congo to hunt members of the Lord Resistance’s Army (LRA) seeking refuge there, Foreign Minister Sam Kuteesa said. ”The LRA is a terrorist organisation which has been operating out of Sudan for the last 10 years, now they are moving into DRC which brings a new dynamic,” Kuteesa said.

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/ 20 October 2005

Australia downplays report of Timor-Indonesia clashes

Australia said on Thursday it was confident the Indonesian military was not involved in recent violence on the East Timor border and rejected a report that militia activity in the area was increasing. Australia, which angered Jakarta by supporting East Timor’s successful push for independence, said it had received no reports of Indonesia provoking border violence.