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/ 2 February 2004
Central banks are very powerful determinants of interest rates and exchange rates. It has therefore been very disconcerting to financial market participants that the norm since December 2003 has been for central banks to spring surprises. The first major central bank to surprise the markets was the South African Reserve Bank.
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/ 2 February 2004
A flood of innovative, user-friendly, small and often eye-catching digital music devices have been launched to bring better sound into cars, mobile phones, portable jukeboxes and even video-games consoles. Phatboxes, Pictones and media handsets were among the new gadgets flaunted at the Midem trade.
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/ 2 February 2004
The signing of a wealth-sharing agreement earlier this month between Sudanese officials and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army was hailed an important step towards peace in that country. Now, hopes are growing that the accord might also spell the end of another conflict: that in northern Uganda.
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/ 2 February 2004
The death toll in the twin suicide bombings at two Kurdish party offices in northern Iraq has climbed to 67, with 267 others injured, United States military officials said on Monday. The figure was released by military officials meeting with US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
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/ 2 February 2004
The South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights has called on prisoners, former prisoners and their families to boycott the forthcoming elections to show solidarity with prisoners who will not be allowed to vote. Only prisoners awaiting trial and prisoners given the option of paying a fine will be allowed to vote.
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/ 2 February 2004
Former South African president FW de Klerk’s expected endorsement of the pact between his former apartheid party, the New National Party, and the ruling black majority African National Congress has sparked a volley of arguments between opposition leader Tony Leon and the NNP.
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/ 2 February 2004
The Law Society of Zimbabwe has barred 40 law firms — about one-seventh of the national total — from practising this year until they renewed their licenses or revamped. Among the banned firms is Artherstone and Cook, which recently represented journalists from the Zimbabwe Independent facing defamation charges.
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/ 2 February 2004
The vision that drives the New Economic Programme for Africa’s Development is not unrealistic, chairperson of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) steering committee Wiseman Nkuhlu said on Sunday at the opening of the first-ever African ministerial conference on open learning and distance education.
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/ 2 February 2004
The Hlobane waterfall near Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal is flowing again after more than 50 years. The waterfall stopped flowing decades ago due to mining activity at the underground Hlobane colliery. Now a mining subsidiary has developed a new technique — a world first — to fix the mining damage.
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/ 2 February 2004
The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was mixed at midday on Monday after a quiet morning on which the local bourse lacked major drivers. "It has been very quiet — one of the quietest days we have seen for quite a while with the exception of Christmas and New Year," a dealer said.