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/ 25 November 2004

Cosatu plans another Zim mission

The Congress of SA Trade Unions plans to revisit Zimbabwe in January after last month’s ill-fated fact-finding mission, the federation said on Thursday. Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu’s general secretary, said Zimbabwe’s government had misunderstood the purpose of the mission, and exposed its paranoia and fear when it expelled Cosatu’s 13-member team from Harare on October 26.

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/ 25 November 2004

Manuel predicts strong rand against dollar

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told textile workers on Thursday that foreign-exchange matters were critical to understanding the future of the textile industry. He said one of the realities was that the fundamentals of the United States (US) economy were out of kilter. The US was "importing more than it’s exporting" and the inevitable consequence of this was the devaluation of the dollar.

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/ 25 November 2004

‘Sheroes’ of the good fight

One woman facing abuse and rape is one too many. Using this benchmark, the road ahead of us is long and it will take many years to eradicate the scourge. But as the 2004 Sixteen Days of Activism, devoted to ending gender violence, begins, we choose to highlight the ‘sheroes’ who have used the political space of the past 10 years to begin to make inroads into the crippling rates of rape and abuse that still bedevil South African men and women.

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/ 25 November 2004

Nairobi set for land-mine conference

A ”summit for a mine-free world” opens this weekend in Nairobi to take stock of progress since the signing five years ago of an international treaty banning the deadly devices, and to chart the road ahead. One-hundred-forty-three countries have ratified the 1997 Ottawa Convention on antipersonnel mines, which bans their use, production, stockpiling and transfer and calls for mined areas to be cleared within 10 years.

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/ 25 November 2004

Charmers threaten reptile riot

Indian snake charmers have threatened to let loose thousands of snakes in eastern Bhubaneshwar city, alleging harassment by wildlife officials, it was reported on Thursday. While the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 bans the catching of snakes, the practise thrives.