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/ 8 November 2004
To American pet-owners they are a dog’s best friend. But on Sunday, British animal welfare groups warned that canine spectacles could be as much of a hindrance as a help to short-sighted mutts. The prescription eyeglasses, which cost about a pair, are intended to improve the quality of life for old dogs who need new tricks to chase the neighbourhood cats.
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/ 8 November 2004
New Zealand health authorities have banned four herbal remedies which claim to boost male sexual performance because they may provoke heart attacks. The products, including pills called Boyjoy and Manup, contain sildenafil and tadalafil, the active substances used in Viagra and Cialis, the only registered prescription medicines approved to treat erectile dysfunction in New Zealand.
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/ 8 November 2004
There is something strange about buying a lime-and-water at a hotel bar and paying Z$5 000 (about R5) for it. Welcome to Zimbabwe, land of political upheaval and a currency gone mad and, for South Africans at least, a friendly value-for-money holiday destination. Unlike many parts of Zimbabwe, in Victoria Falls there is food, there is petrol and there are some fantastic hotels to suit most budgets.
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/ 8 November 2004
So I dragged my bags out of the aeroplane at Heathrow and, having run the gamut of the slit-eyed customs and immigration officials, who these days comprise all sexes, all tendencies, and all races, which is no simple trick I can assure you, I got on the very civilised express train and found myself at the heart of Paddington station. And there I met a man called Thomas Jones with whom I had a most refreshing conversation …
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/ 8 November 2004
The uniform of Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring became greener as the victorious allies approached Berlin, according to Hitler’s architect Albert Speer, until it began to look like that of a United States five-star general. In South Africa we’ve become so used to chameleon conduct that we don’t seem to notice it any more.
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/ 8 November 2004
South Africa has had its fair share of controversial white sportsmen. Ali Bacher (rebel tours), Hansie Cronje (match fixing) and Andre Markgraaf (the k-word), come to mind. Bacher and Markgraaf have repented. Cronje has moved on to higher places. But in my book, Gary Player — "I am a South African of Verwoerd and apartheid" (<i>Grand Slam Golf</i>, 1966) tops the list.
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/ 8 November 2004
Australian snooker great Eddie Charlton died in a New Zealand hospital on Monday after a short illness, his New Zealand managers said. He was 75. His manager, Mary Heremaia, said Charlton was apparently suffering from a tumor on the bile duct. He had complained of fluid retention and had been dieting to lose weight.
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/ 8 November 2004
China took the global markets by surprise two weeks ago when it raised its interest rates for the first time in nine years in an attempt to cool its rampant economy. The move sent bonds, stocks and the United States dollar into turmoil as financial markets tried to digest the implications for the world economy, of which China is rapidly becoming an increasingly important part.
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/ 8 November 2004
South African President Thabo Mbeki is due to travel to Côte d’Ivoire in the coming days on an African Union mission to defuse the crisis in the West African country, an AU official said on Sunday. AU leaders have mandated Mbeki ”to undertake an urgent mission in consultation with the chairperson of the AU commission, with a view to promoting a political solution”.
Burning and looting in Abidjan
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/ 8 November 2004
Can China, the world’s most populous country, really go on indefinitely combining censorship, a rigidly controlled media, and an authoritarian, secretive, one-party state with a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture and technological progress, and not suffer some economic or political crisis? It is no longer an obscure question about a far-off country. What happens in China now affects us all.