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/ 11 February 2008

Israel threatens to topple Gaza’s Hamas rulers

Israel threatened to topple the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers on Monday following a surge of cross-border rocket attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group. ”I believe a combination of steps against Hamas in Gaza will bring an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza,” Israel’s Vice-Premier, Haim Ramon, told reporters. ”They will not last. It will take a few months.”

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/ 11 February 2008

Residential property market continues to slow

Residential market activity levels dropped to 5,1 from 5,3 in the fourth quarter of last year, according to First National Bank’s (FNB) Residential Property Confidence Indicator. FNB research indicated that constraining factors continued to be rising interest rates, inflationary pressures and the effect of the National Credit Act.

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/ 11 February 2008

Platinum price tops $1 900 on supply worries

Platinum cleared the $1 900-an-ounce mark on Monday for the first time in its history as concerns of further supply disruptions due to power shortages continued to plague the market. The precious white metal gained $27 to trade at $1 917,50 an ounce by 1.45pm after hitting $1 890 in late after-market trade on Friday.

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/ 11 February 2008

Beijing backs gag order following uproar in UK

Beijing Olympic organisers said on Monday they backed a ban on political protests by athletes attending this year’s Games, amid an uproar over an effort to silence British athletes. Following widespread anger, the British Olympic Association backed down on Sunday on its plan to prevent British competitors from commenting on ”politically sensitive issues”.

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/ 11 February 2008

Els buoyed ahead of run to Masters

Two tournaments and two top-10 finishes to start the season have buoyed Ernie Els as he switches his focus to the United States in preparation for the Masters at Augusta in April. The world number four recovered from a horror nine at the 18th in his first round at the inaugural Indian Masters to end tied sixth.

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/ 11 February 2008

Mallett frustrated by Italy mistakes

Italy’s South African coach Nick Mallett said he was frustrated by his side’s two crucial first-half mistakes that cost them a first-ever victory over England. Italy lost 23-19 at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in the Six Nations on Sunday in a match where they came as close as ever to beating England in 14 attempts.

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/ 11 February 2008

‘Tired’ JSE led down by weak world markets

A tired-looking JSE was 89 points in the red by noon on Monday as weak global markets continued to weigh. By midday, the broader all-share index had shed 0,32%. The gold-mining index pulled back 1,42%, resources added 0,05% and the platinum-mining index was up 0,97%. Industrials fell 0,77%, financials were down 0,29% and banks gave up 0,29%.