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/ 9 December 2004

Non-nuclear Koeberg: 105m tonnes coal needed

If the power station at Koeberg in the Western Cape were coal-fired and not nuclear, it would have needed to burn more than 105-million tonnes of the black stuff over the past two decades to equal the power it has produced from just 621 tonnes of uranium, says Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

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/ 9 December 2004

Mboweni: SA’s inflation outlook remains positive

South Africa’s inflation outlook generally remains positive, but there are certain developments that will have to be monitored closely by the monetary policy committee to ensure that inflation remains within the target range, South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Business&ao=176320">No change in interest rates</a>

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/ 9 December 2004

Karzai turns attention to drug trade

Only two days after his inauguration, President Hamid Karzai is already trying to get the message out — Afghanistan needs to stem its booming drugs trade if the country is going to move forward. With the ink barely dry after his swearing in, Karzai has called a two-day meeting of tribal elders and provincial officials from around Afghanistan to discuss strategies to combat the drugs trade.

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/ 9 December 2004

Bodies of two boys found in Bruma Lake

The bodies of two more boys were found in Bruma Lake on Thursday afternoon after they were swept down the Jukskei River on Wednesday. The popular Johannesburg lake was drained on Thursday as rescue workers searched for the two boys. Earlier on Thursday, emergency personnel found the body of a third boy.

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/ 9 December 2004

French vineyards face crisis

Tens of thousands of angry winemakers took to the streets across France on Wednesday demanding urgent government action to help haul the industry out of its worst crisis in more than a century. The industry is demanding state help ranging from a â,¬10 000 emergency payment for young winemakers to a fund aimed at encouraging older producers to take early retirement.

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/ 9 December 2004

No change in interest rates

A two-day meeting of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) monetary policy committee ended in Pretoria on Thursday afternoon when SARB Governor Tito Mboweni announced the repo rate will be kept steady at 7,5%. Mike Schussler, economist at T-Sec, said: "The decision was very much as expected."

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/ 9 December 2004

Gold Fields board rejects Harmony talks

The board of Gold Fields on Thursday rejected suggestions made in the media by Harmony Gold that the two companies should enter into friendly discussions concerning Harmony’s hostile bid for Gold Fields. "Harmony’s offer … has already been overwhelmingly rejected by Gold Fields’ shareholders," it said.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Business&ao=176289">Gold Fields, Harmony’s ‘talks about talks'</a>

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/ 9 December 2004

Libya asks Bulgaria to pay damages for Aids cases

Libya said it would drop a case against five Bulgarian nurses condemned to death on charges of spreading HIV/Aids if Sofia paid out 10-million euros for every child infected with the virus at a Libyan hospital. The Bulgarian government has rejected the proposal, saying it would not pay compensation because it did not believe the nurses were guilty.

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/ 9 December 2004

Buy two shoes, get one free

It is the oddest offer ever made available in shoe shops: ”Buy two, get a third for free.” Yet, this is precisely what two Milan-based entrepreneurs have come up with as they seek to break the monopoly of pairs and revolutionise a fashion principle that has resisted bravely for several thousand years.