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/ 22 December 2004

DA questions plan for speedsters’ cars

The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday called the asset forfeiture unit’s reported intention to confiscate vehicles of drivers caught travelling at 30kph over the speed limit ”disproportionate”. ”The possibly unintended consequences of such confiscations should not punish innocent people, the DA said in a statement.

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/ 22 December 2004

November inflation figures released

Year-on-year consumer inflation less mortgage costs (CPIX) rose to 4,6% last month from 4,2% in October, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on Wednesday. The headline inflation rate for November — the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the historical metropolitan area — was 3,7%.

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/ 22 December 2004

Scientists discover new species in caves

A team of international scientists has found new fish and insect species, including a monster cockroach, living in caves in Indonesia’s remote East Kalimantan province, the group announced on Wednesday. The team said the area where the new species were discovered is threatened by environmental degradation.

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/ 22 December 2004

‘Mr Gue-business’ elected Mozambican leader

Armando Guebuza, one of Mozambique’s richest businessmen and a stalwart of the ruling party and the country’s fight against Portuguese colonial rule, crowned his political career on Tuesday by being elected president in key polls. Guebuza inflicted a crushing defeat on main opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama in the polls.

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/ 22 December 2004

Kofi Annan’s annus horribilis

After a trying year punctuated by calls for his resignation by United States lawmakers, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan says the US and the UN have to find a way to put their disputes behind them and move ahead with plans to reform the world body and meet poverty-reduction goals.

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/ 22 December 2004

IT spend in SA continues to accelerate

The value of South Africa’s information communications and technology (ICT) sector is estimated to have grown by 9,7% to R45,6-billion in 2004. It is expected to rise by 8,8% in 2005. Microsoft South Africa notes that salaries in the industry are almost five times higher than South Africa’s average salaries.

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/ 22 December 2004

Ray Charles’s mistress to be grilled about sex life

An ex-mistress of Ray Charles agreed on Tuesday to be grilled by lawyers over her sexual history in a bid to establish whether her 17-year-old son is really the late soul legend’s child. But unemployed Mary Anne den Bok told a court on Tuesday that she regretted asking for a twentyfold increase in child support payments from Charles’s estate to at least  000 a month.