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/ 1 March 2005

Oh baby! Film triumph makes Clint’s day

It was a night unlike any other in the glorified shopping centre that is the Kodak theatre, the purpose-built home for the Oscars in the past few years. A garish rash of white concrete and pseudo marble, it is the sort of building that would sit happily in Las Vegas but stands out from the grime and sleaze of Hollywood Boulevard, somewhere on the wrong side of Beverly Hills.

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/ 1 March 2005

Cosatu reveals Zim protest plans

Workers will picket overnight at Zimbabwe border posts the day before elections take place in that country, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday. The protests on March 30 will be the culmination of other blockades and demonstrations organised by Cosatu throughout March.

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/ 1 March 2005

FirstRand looks at 10% real growth

FirstRand CEO Laurie Dippenaar believes the financial services group is more focused after a recent brand alignment, and that, barring any "unforeseen external shocks", it is also well positioned to achieve its stated objective of 10% real growth. FirstRand lifted attributable profits by a whopping 23% to R2,8-billion for the six months ended December.

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/ 1 March 2005

Romanians sceptical about ‘heavy leu’

The days when almost everyone in Romania was a millionaire are numbered, starting on Tuesday when sceptical Romanians were greeted with old and new prices as the country takes the first steps to introducing the ”heavy leu”. The 22-month process will see four zeros zapped from the national currency, weakened after 15 years of high inflation.

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/ 1 March 2005

German experts row over star disc

One of Germany’s most acclaimed archaeological finds — a 3 600-year-old disc depicting the stars and the planets — is at the centre of a dispute following claims that it is a modern forgery. According to Germany’s museum establishment, the Sky Disc of Nebra is the oldest depiction of the heavens discovered and offers an insight into the Bronze Age mind.

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/ 1 March 2005

Observer team to get to Zim ‘as soon as possible’

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) hoped to speedily set up a team to observe Zimbabwe’s elections on March 31, South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Aziz Pahad, said on Tuesday. South Africa, as chair of SADC’s organ on politics, defence and security, has sent letters to member countries asking for nominations for the observer mission.