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/ 9 November 2004

Archaeologists fear ‘looters’ charter’

Archaeologists were on Monday aghast over a plan by MPs loyal to Silvio Berlusconi to legalise the private ownership of archaeological treasures in Italy. One called the measure a ”looters’ charter”. At present, all antiquities found in Italian soil are deemed to be the property of the state and are meant to be handed over to the authorities.

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/ 9 November 2004

Jail corruption report on the way

A final report on the Jali Commission’s investigation into corruption and maladministration in prisons is being compiled, with gun smuggling one of the issues addressed. ”C-Max is one of the prisons that fall in the nine management areas we looked at,” said commission secretary Charles Frank on Tuesday.

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/ 9 November 2004

Morocco wants Mugabe’s help

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has asked Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to help mediate in its long-running dispute over Western Sahara, state media said on Tuesday. The invitation was delivered to Mugabe in Harare on Monday by Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa.

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/ 9 November 2004

Enter the sea squirts

Researchers working off coastal Georgia have discovered what could be three new species of bottom-dwelling creatures known as sea squirts. The diminutive creatures — also known as tunicates — were recently found at Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, a reef 28km east of Georgia’s Sapelo Island.

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/ 9 November 2004

Oil price drop puts rate cut on table

New York Mercantile Exchange near-dated oil futures price has fallen below $50 per barrel and is currently trading at $49,13 per barrel, meaning that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) monetary policy committee meeting on December 8 and 9 could once again look at a further interest rate cut.

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/ 9 November 2004

Puritanism of the rich

If Bush wins," the United States writer Barbara Probst Solomon claimed just before the election, "fascism is possible in the United States." Blind faith in a leader, she said, a conservative working class and the use of fear as a political weapon provide the necessary preconditions. She’s wrong. So is Richard Sennett, who described Bush’s security state as "soft fascism" in <i>The Guardian</i> last month.