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/ 29 September 2005
The long-term insurance industry is in good health with the industry now managing assets in excess of R913-billion for the year to June 2005, a 19% increase on the year before, the Life Offices Association said on Thursday. The total new business premium inflow was up 14% on the comparable six month period in 2004, to R21-billion.
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/ 29 September 2005
World oil prices pushed upwards on Thursday as the market focus remained on United States refineries, many of which are struggling to restart production after recent hurricanes in the US Gulf of Mexico. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, added seven cents to ,42 per barrel in electronic trading.
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/ 29 September 2005
An Australian man has told how he was almost crushed to death after waking up in a garbage-compactor truck following a night out at the pub. Police said closed-circuit television footage showed three men dumping the retail manager in an industrial bin, which was then emptied into the truck.
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/ 29 September 2005
A suicide bombing outside an army base in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killed nine people and injured 28 on Wednesday, raising fears that insurgents are importing ruthless Iraqi-style tactics into Afghanistan. A motorbike-mounted bomber struck during the evening rush hour, as officers and soldiers waited outside the camp for a bus home.
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/ 29 September 2005
Global energy demand is expected to grow 50% over the next 25 years, driven by strong economic growth in India and China, a top ExxonMobil executive said on Thursday. "We expect sustained economic growth, just under three percent a year… rising personal income and standards of living especially in Asia," said Kwa Chong Seng, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific’s chairperson and managing director.
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/ 29 September 2005
Johannesburg’s City Power chief executive, Mogwailane Mohlala, will leave the utility in January, a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday. The announcement comes shortly after the National Electricity Regulator released a report critical of the company and repeated power outages in the city.
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/ 29 September 2005
The Kenyan Wildlife Service on Wednesday suspended the relocation of elephants from an overcrowded coastal reserve to a more spacious park in order to monitor their resettlement and avoid bad weather, officials said. The operation began in August to move 400 animals from Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park.
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/ 29 September 2005
Voters in Somalia’s breakaway republic of Somaliland cast ballots on Thursday to elect lawmakers amid hopes the exercise will bring them international recognition as a sovereign state. About 800 000 of Somaliland’s estimated 3,5-million people are eligible to vote in the election.
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/ 29 September 2005
In an embarrassing public-relations glitch, Apple on Wednesday admitted a flaw in its new iPod nano music players, saying that a small number of units have screens that could crack easily. The announcement sent shares of the company down by about 5% at one point on Wednesday when they touched ,70 from ,44.
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/ 29 September 2005
American Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel (24) is an international electronic-sports champion — in other words, a cyber-athlete.