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/ 20 April 2007

ANC Youth League wants lower voting age

A renewed push for the voting age to be lowered to 16 will be made at the African National Congress (ANC) policy conference this year, the ANC Youth League said on Friday. ”We … intend to place this position firmly on the agenda of the ANC’s policy conference,” league president Fikile Mbalula said in Johannesburg.

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/ 20 April 2007

Sudan defiant in face of sanctions threat

Sudan on Friday dismissed as unjustifiable the threat of slapping new sanctions because of the Darfur conflict, vowing to do everything it can to protect what it sees as its national security. Britain and the United States said this week they would propose new sanctions while Russia, China and South Africa are opposed to any such sanctions.

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/ 20 April 2007

Mac book supersizes conflicts in the ANC

The Mail & Guardian this week secured advance access to an extraordinary attempt to document the African National Congress’s (ANC) anti-apartheid struggle — as well as its devastating internal battles around the figures of its president, Thabo Mbeki, and its deputy president, Jacob Zuma. The vehicle for this penetrating exposé is a study of one of the movement’s most colourful and controversial figures: Mac Maharaj.

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/ 18 April 2007

Name and shame for insurance companies

The office of the ombudsman for long-term insurance has begun a form of naming and shaming of companies slow to respond to complaints logged with it. Deputy ombudsman Jennifer Preiss told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday that the office felt it was sending out too many reminders to insurance companies not responding to complaints.

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/ 18 April 2007

ANC’s stance on damaged memorial welcomed

The Afrikanerbond on Wednesday welcomed the National African National Congress’s (ANC) stance against the damage to the Great Trek memorial in Standerton, Mpumalanga. ”The Afrikanerbond is heartened by ANC national spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama’s unequivocal message …,” said Afrikanerbond spokesperson Jan Bosman in a statement.

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/ 18 April 2007

Last chance, Bush warns Sudan

United States President George Bush on Wednesday bluntly warned that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had one "last chance" to help end violence in Darfur or face tougher US sanctions and other punishments. "The time for promises is over, President Bashir must act," Bush said in remarks at the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

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/ 18 April 2007

France hopes to lure tourists via Hollywood

Whether it is through the soaring grace of the Eiffel Tower or the breathtaking beauty of Provence, France is hoping to lure tourists by persuading Hollywood to shoot more films there. An unprecedented alliance of French film and local government officials descended on Los Angeles last week to attend the Locations Trade Show, an annual fair that puts potential film sites in the movie industry’s shop window.

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/ 17 April 2007

Judge Essop Patel dies of cancer

Pretoria High Court Judge Essop Patel, who was presiding over the criminal trial of alleged child molester Cezanne Visser, alias ”Advocate Barbie”, has died. Patel died of cancer after a long sickness, media reports said on Tuesday. He will be buried according to Muslim rites on Tuesday morning at Johannesburg’s Newclare cemetery.