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/ 9 February 2004

Rebel commander shot dead, bodyguards detained

A top rebel commander was shot dead outside a nightclub in northern Côte d’Ivoire on Sunday, the rebels’ military chief said. It was not known who carried out the killing of Staff Sergeant Adama Coulibaly in Korhogo, or how many gunmen were involved. But five of the commander’s bodyguards were detained as suspects

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/ 9 February 2004

SA wine exports up 11,2% in 2003

South Africa’s exports of wine and alcoholic fruit beverages (including flavoured grape liquor and that for vinegar and industrial purposes) grew 11,2% y/y in volume terms in 2003, according to preliminary statistics from South Africa Wine Information Systems (Sawis), the industry’s official data collection group.

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/ 9 February 2004

SA now has world’s largest oxygen plant

Sasol chief executive Pieter Cox on Monday inaugurated the world’s largest oxygen production plant at the group’s Secunda site near Johannesburg in South Africa. The new, R668-million plant is in addition to 14 other existing oxygen production plants, making synthetic fuels group Sasol the world’s largest single producer and consumer of oxygen.

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/ 9 February 2004

Kerry marches on

John Kerry’s three-state United States weekend rout, capped by his coast to victory in Maine, pushed him closer to the Democratic nomination and left his rivals scrambling to find a way to stop the front-runner. Kerry’s winning streak is beginning to demoralise his opponents.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=30861">Anxious Bush on charm offensive</a>

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/ 9 February 2004

The ‘free and fair’ game

What does the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) do when township dwellers refuse to vote in a hostel because of past animosities with its residents? Or when high-profile leaders of a political party are seen registering voters on behalf of the IEC? These are some of the complex issues the commission has already had to face as the election race slowly takes off.

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/ 9 February 2004

Sanef calls for free flow of information

The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) on Sunday accused the authorities of preventing vital information from reaching the public and vowed to fight for the right of journalists to protect their sources. Sanef said the organisation was concerned over the flow of information from the police to the media.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=30864">The death of Zimbabwean journalism</a>

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/ 9 February 2004

That other holocaust

This year marks the centenary of an extraordinary event that the world doesn’t seem to care much about. In 1904, after many years of conflict with the invading German army, the Herero people of Namibia decided that enough was enough. They were called together by their paramount chief, Samuel Maharero, and summoned to go to war.

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/ 9 February 2004

Pointing guns, pointing fingers

The Inkatha Freedom Party and police are investigating why seven people were injured in a shooting incident at a political rally in Wembesi township, Estcourt, in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. The African National Congress and IFP blamed one another for the shooting at the Wembesi community hall on Sunday.

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/ 9 February 2004

Inflation eases in Lesotho and Swaziland

Inflation in Lesotho and Swaziland managed to ease from double digits in 2002 to around 7% in 2003, tracking South African economic patterns. Lesotho’s average annual inflation rate dropped to 7,2% in 2003 from 11,3% in 2002 mainly due to an increase in consumer prices by 0,1% year on year in December.