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/ 25 November 2005
A new look at Department of Education statistics suggests that from 1995 to 2001 a startling 40% of primary school children dropped out of school. The findings, by the University of Cape Town’s Professor Crain Soudien, are contained in a 10-year review of schooling conducted by the Centre for Education Policy Development for the South African Democratic Teachers Union.
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/ 25 November 2005
If wars and genocides were Africa’s only news, African newspapers and international news networks like CNN would run the same stories. But Al-Jazeera International aims to be different. As part of a "fresh 360 degree [change] to news coverage," the soon-to-be-launched television network plans to run African news stories as part of its normal news cycle — not just when violence occurs.
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/ 25 November 2005
Ash blanketed the Comoros capital on Friday after the Indian Ocean archipelago’s Mount Karthala erupted for the second time this year, spewing smoke and cinders over the nation’s main island of Grand Comore. Meanwhile, Volcano Galeras, located near Colombia’s southern Colombia border with Ecuador, began erupting on Thursday.
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/ 25 November 2005
The Young Communist League is considering suspending its deputy national secretary, Mazibuko Jara, for questioning the league’s support for Jacob Zuma. It is understood that the league met recently to discuss the suspension of Jara over a paper he has written titled <i>What Colour Is Our Flag? Red or JZ?</i>. The paper has been leaked to the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>.
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/ 25 November 2005
Beach volleyball, like the life of the medieval peasant, is extremely boring but, mercifully, is over fairly quickly. Both volleyballers and serfs spend their useful lives serving, digging, setting and spiking. Both spend a lot of time barefoot with sand in their mouths.
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/ 25 November 2005
Since readmission the true litmus test of the health, or otherwise, of Springbok rugby has tended to come against France. In 1992 Naas Botha’s team won their first overseas Test in more than a decade 20-15. It was a result owing everything to passion, and a week later when something more was required to win in Paris, South Africa went down 29-16.
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/ 25 November 2005
France is denial about the dangers of alcoholism and alcohol abuse, linked to one in 10 deaths in the country, according to a government-commissioned report issued on Thursday. Two million French people are dependent on alcohol, and women and young adults are taking an increased share of the population of alcohol abusers, the report ”Alcoholism: Straight Talk, Simple Talk” said.
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/ 25 November 2005
There’s only one place in Wong Yiu-keung’s heart — and that’s for late martial arts legend Bruce Lee. He dedicates most of his time to running the Bruce Lee Club, Lee’s only fan club in Hong Kong, while he has put his family, friends and career on the sidelines to organise the city’s first festival dedicated to the kung fu hero.
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/ 25 November 2005
A confidential British Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital. In an unusually frank insight into British assessments of Israeli intentions, the document says that Ariel Sharon’s government is jeopardising the prospect of a peace agreement.
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/ 25 November 2005
In a consumer era that allows you to do almost everything by telephone except find a human being to help you, at least one brave man has decided he is not going to take it any more. Paul English’s moment of clarity came in March when he was being bounced around the automated ”customer service” system of a cellphone company.