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/ 1 December 2006

I’ll see your five cows and raise you a T-bone

Ms Baleka Mbete, Speaker of this august House, wishes it made clear that she will no longer tolerate puns, double entendres, or any facetious allusion whatsoever to the Gautrain and her alleged interests in it. She refers here specifically to a point of order raised by a certain short fat white counter-revolutionary in the House yesterday.

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/ 1 December 2006

The Hatfield connection

The Pretoria suburb of Hatfield is leading the pack in the race to bring affordable internet access to broadband-starved South Africa. Residents and business owners in Hatfield can sign up for 1GB of wireless broadband for a mere R180 a month, or a 3GB service for R350, thanks to a network set up by internet service provider (ISP) Neology as a proof of concept.

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/ 1 December 2006

Gangster rule triumphs

In Moscow shortly after 9/11 a clever Russian academic told me: "Don’t believe all that stuff Putin is dishing out about how sorry we all are about what has happened. A lot of people here are thrilled to see the Americans get a kicking.” A few months ago I heard a cluster of diplomats lament the difficulties of doing business with the Russians, writes Max Hastings.

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/ 1 December 2006

Madagascar polls to test democracy

Under the eyes of the world this time, Madagascar goes to the polls on Sunday in presidential elections that will test its democratic credibility. The last presidential contest, in 2001, from which then-president Didier Ratsiraka banned observers, split the country for six months and drove it to the point of civil war.

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/ 1 December 2006

A change of seasons for the DA

One of the most extraordinary and amusing people I have ever encountered is the British journalist-turned-politician Boris Johnson, whose razor-sharp wit conceals a steely purpose, writes Tony Leon. An article he wrote about the far more famous Tony (Blair) said: ”No day is more postponed against by a politician than the day of his own retirement.”

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/ 1 December 2006

United against France

Relations between Rwanda and France have hit rock bottom in the past few days. This was not unexpected. One of the immediate causes for relations turning frosty is French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere’s recent issuing of arrest warrants for nine senior Rwandan military officers and his calls for Rwandan President Paul Kagame to face trial for the downing of President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane on April 6 1994.