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/ 14 January 2005
Activists from the United States are heading to Brazil for the upcoming World Social Forum, determined to refute the widespread belief that their country has "gone Republican". They’re also in search of fresh inspiration for the fight against the exploitation of people, and natural resources. "With the re-election of Bush, a lot of people around the world washed their hands of the United States," said a member of Global Trade Watch.
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/ 14 January 2005
Diamond miner De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) could cut 1Â 400 jobs in its South African operations, the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> has learnt from senior industry sources. Sources have also indicated a strong possibility of closure of some of De Beers’s unprofitable mines as the company faces difficulty brought about by the strong rand.
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/ 14 January 2005
Until the tsunami smashed into it, Andalus Cement was the largest firm in Banda Aceh, employing more than 600 people. It exported cement dug out from the neighbouring mountain across Indonesia, churning out a million tonnes a year. This week, however, it was not producing anything.
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/ 14 January 2005
The new president has little room to manouevre — and expectations are running high. Like any politician, Abbas made numerous election promises. They included the return of millions of refugees and of territory lost in 1967, and a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem. Ordinary voters who put their faith in the democratic process will hold Abbas to these pledges.
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/ 14 January 2005
Tiny tools can help address big problems — in this case, understanding malaria — according to a report on the Science and Development Network. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States has led a study using ”optical tweezers” to show how the elasticity of red blood cells changes when they are infected with the malaria parasite.
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/ 13 January 2005
One more South African has been confirmed dead after the December 26 tsunami in Thailand, bring the total of dead South Africans to 11, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in Pretoria on Thursday. The number of people missing, feared dead, dropped to four as a result, a spokesperson at the department’s operations centre said.
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/ 13 January 2005
The president of world soccer governing body Fifa, Sepp Blatter, on Thursday accepted on behalf of the body one of South Africa’s highest awards. Blatter, in the country to meet members of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, met President Thabo Mbeki before accepting the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo.
Jordaan ‘perfect’ for 2010
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/ 13 January 2005
Don Quixote, the endearing tale of a mad, errant knight and his sidekick, Sancho Panza — described variously as the ”universal novel” or the ”bible of humanity” — celebrates its 400th birthday this week, kicking off a year-long party for one of the world’s most acclaimed literary works.
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/ 13 January 2005
Hundreds of Cameroon government employees have found themselves locked out of their offices after rolling in to work late, following a crackdown by their new Minister of Public Service, Ephraim Inoni. The education and finance ministries were the latest to be targeted on Thursday on the orders of Inoni.