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/ 13 September 2007

Court told of ANC ‘counter-revolution’

Former director general of the National Intelligence Agency Billy Masetlha has implicated Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils in a ”counter-revolution” meant to destroy the African National Congress (ANC). ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe had said that certain things happening in the party bordered on ”counter-revolution”, Masetlha testified on Wednesday.

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/ 13 September 2007

Base-jumper stretchered off Table Mountain

A team of 30 rescue-workers stretchered an injured base-jumper off Table Mountain at 10pm on Wednesday after an operation lasting eight-and-a-half hours, said Wilderness Search and Rescue. The 19-year-old hurt his back and ribs and sustained other minor injuries when he plummeted 30m down Platteklip Gorge at 2pm.

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/ 13 September 2007

Children of the Cultural Revolution poised for power

Children turned on parents, students denounced their teachers and Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed: ”To rebel is justified” — the Cultural Revolution was a defining, if terrifying, experience for many Chinese. This turbulent period provides the social backdrop that shaped the formative years of rising political stars like Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao and Xi Jinping, who lived through the chaos.

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/ 13 September 2007

‘Official’ kilogram mysteriously losing weight

A kilogram just isn’t what it used to be. A 118-year-old cylinder that has been the international prototype for the metric mass, and kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing its weight — if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, south-west of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms.

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/ 12 September 2007

Bridge-building task for SABC’s new board

There is background to why Dali Mpofu, supremo at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), announced last week that the broadcaster was severing ties with the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef). On the SABC side, the broadcaster’s leadership sees itself as a ”responsible” player in nation-building and promoting the ”national interest”.

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/ 12 September 2007

Sluggish Italy stumble past Romania

Italy rebounded from their All Black mauling to record a morale-boosting, if incredibly dour, 24-18 win over Romania in a Rugby World Cup Pool C game at the Stade Velodrome in Marseilles on Wednesday. In a game that was certainly no advert for free-flowing rugby, the forwards battled out a war of attrition interrupted by a veritable comedy of handling errors.

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/ 12 September 2007

Zim shock favourites Australia in Twenty20

Minnows Zimbabwe upset tournament favourites Australia in the first shock of the Twenty20 World Championship at Newlands on Wednesday. Opening batsman Brendan Taylor guided Zimbabwe to a five-wicket win after Australia limped to 138-9 in their 20 overs after choosing to bat on a slow pitch.