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/ 20 March 2007

Ngonyama: Russia deal with ‘ANC arm’ above board

Newspaper reports suggesting something untoward in a deal between Russian companies and the African National Congress-aligned Chancellor House firm are nonsense, the ANC said on Tuesday. ”It is a deal between private companies that has nothing to do with government or the ANC,” said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama, adding that he did not want to comment on it.

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/ 20 March 2007

SA seeks amended UN sanctions draft on Iran

South Africa pushed on Monday for a 90-day freeze of Iran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for a simultaneous suspension of United Nations sanctions that the Security Council is looking to toughen. The 90-day, simultaneous suspension was contained in a series of South African amendments to a draft resolution agreed by six major powers last week.

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/ 17 March 2007

French Resistance hero was ’emblematic’

Wartime French Resistance hero Lucie Aubrac, who famously rescued her husband in a daring attack on a German convoy, died on March 14 in a Paris hospital at the age of 94. In 1943, Aubrac was with a group of fighters who ambushed a truck bearing Raymond Aubrac and 13 other resistance members from Gestapo headquarters in Lyon.

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/ 16 March 2007

Stem-cell bank becomes high-tech life insurance

Thai parents often mark the birth of a child by heading to a bank to set up a savings account. Now some wealthy Thais are using a different kind of bank they hope will help protect their children’s future well-being — a medical bank that saves stem cells from a baby’s umbilical cord in hopes of providing a cure to any major illnesses that could develop later in life.

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/ 16 March 2007

‘Potch mafia’ eyes ANC reins

A new ANC faction has emerged in North West which plans to oust leaders of the dominant grouping from ANC party structures and government positions in the province. Nicknamed the “Potch mafia”, the grouping is allegedly led by Ndleleni Duma, provincial deputy secretary of the ANC and sports, arts and culture provincial minister.