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/ 29 June 2006

Islamists seek to increase control of Somalia

Powerful Islamists on Thursday announced an expansion of their control across Somalia, despite signing a recognition deal with the powerless transitional government aimed at maintaining a lull in the lawless African nation, officials said. In addition, they changed their name from Council of Islamic Courts to Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia, which will rule the Horn of Africa nation

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/ 29 June 2006

Report: Israel delays further moves in Gaza

Israel on Thursday postponed a planned incursion into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, apparently to allow negotiations to continue over the fate of a kidnapped soldier, media reported. Any further movements into northern Gaza, where troops have already rolled across the border in a bid to free the conscript, have been delayed, public radio said.

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/ 29 June 2006

Stiletto-stabbed soldier wins compensation

A 31-year-old woman who wounded a British soldier with her stiletto heel after he tried to break up a row was ordered on Wednesday to pay him £170 in compensation. Mark McCay (23) was taken to hospital with a bloody cut after he was hit on the head by Lisa Ashworth’s shoe in the early hours of July 1 2004.

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/ 29 June 2006

Your call is important to us

A report by Willie Hofmeyr, the Eliot Ness of the Highveld, has revealed that the paying of bribes is commonplace. Of the respondents polled, 73% had paid bribes to avoid paying for water and electricity; 72% for having telephones installed; 65% for customs avoidance; and 55% for getting a driver’s licence. Lemmer is impressed by his compatriots’ chutzpah.

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/ 28 June 2006

Slow employment growth worries Cosatu

The South African Congress of Trade Unions is concerned that the latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) again show only very slow growth in formal employment, despite the growth in the economy in the past six months, it said in a statement on Wednesday. According to the QES, formal employment rose by about only 300 000 in the year to March 2006.

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/ 27 June 2006

Mboweni: Global and local economic prospects sound

South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday that despite the recent turbulence in international markets, the central bank was of the view that growth prospects remain sound both in South Africa and in the rest of the world. He said the inflation threats were likely to subside given the resolute determination of central banks around the world to tighten policy.

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/ 27 June 2006

Zimbabwe gazettes Petroleum Bill

The Zimbabwean government has gazetted a Petroleum Bill that seeks to establish a Petroleum Regulatory Authority that will regulate and license persons in respect of retailing, producing and procuring petroleum products, the state-owned <i>Herald</i> newspaper reported on Tuesday.

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/ 27 June 2006

Indian Muslims worried over ‘football-mad’ youths

Hard-line Muslims in southern India have launched a campaign to dissuade youths from watching too much World Cup action, saying they had "gone mad" over football. "Wherever you go, you see [youths] wearing jerseys of various teams. It’s like idol worship, which our religion doesn’t promote in any form," said Sattar Pathallur, secretary of the Sunni Students Federation.

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/ 27 June 2006

Naspers targets broadband to ensure growth

South African media group Naspers on Tuesday reported a 63% increase in its core headline earnings per ordinary N share to 696 cents for the year ended March 2006 from 427 cents for the 12 months to March 2005. Naspers declared an annual dividend per N share of 120 cents, up 71% from 70 cents previously and 24 cents from 14 cents per unlisted A ordinary share.

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/ 26 June 2006

Sars rejects corruption allegations

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) said in a statement on Monday that it rejected claims by two Sunday newspapers that SARS customs officials at the Johannesburg International airport (JIA) were working with criminal syndicates who target foreign diplomats upon their arrival in South Africa.

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/ 26 June 2006

No equity partner for SAA, says Erwin

No strategic equity partner is being contemplated for state-controlled South African Airways (SAA) "at this stage", Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin reports. "The airline industry is a difficult and highly competitive one. To meet these challenges the [public enterprises] department is continually attempting to improve its risk management in regard to SAA."

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/ 26 June 2006

Blair: More hard work to end Africa’s poverty

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to try to push poverty reduction back onto the group of eight (G8) agenda in a speech on Monday, warning it will take "hard work for years to come" to tackle extreme poverty in Africa. Blair was expected to restate his commitment to the aims set out last year at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

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/ 26 June 2006

DA: Politicians leap on Cup gravy plane

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=soccer_world_cup_2006"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/272488/icon_focuson_wc3.gif" align=left border=0></a>The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is to submit questions to all national departments of government in South Africa about which politicians and officials have gone to Germany during the World Cup at taxpayers’ expense. This follows a report that the KwaZulu-Natal transport department was sending a delegation to look at the German transport system.

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/ 26 June 2006

Growing towards knowledge societies

Are we on the threshold of a new age — that of knowledge societies? The scientific upheavals of the 20th century have brought about a third industrial revolution, that of the new technologies, which are essentially intellectual technologies. This revolution, which has been accompanied by a further advance of globalisation, has laid down the bases of a knowledge economy.

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/ 26 June 2006

Solutions for Somalia

Ungoverned and ungovernable since 1991, Somalia is once again receiving the kind of attention it was burdened with a decade ago, when international peacekeepers tried unsuccessfully to bring order to the chaos-torn country. The United States and the Arab League have redoubled their efforts to create a dialogue between the transitional government of Abdullahi Yusuf and the Islamic Courts.

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/ 23 June 2006

US secretly probes financial records to track terrorists

The United States government has secretly monitored banking transactions around the globe since the September 11 2001 attacks, officials said on Friday, defending the programme as a crucial part of the war on terror. It is the latest in a series of covert measures that is likely to spark fresh concerns about potential privacy infringements and Americans’ civil liberties.

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/ 23 June 2006

Rand tumbles against dollar after record deficit

The rand fell on Friday to the lowest point against the United States dollar since January 2004, a day after the South African government announced a multi-year record deficit for the country’s current account. In European trade in London, the rand fell as low as $0,1328 — a level last seen on January 16 2004. By early afternoon in London, it stood at $0,1331.

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/ 23 June 2006

The happiest day of the year

Feeling more happy than usual this particular Friday? You should be, according to a scholar in seasonal disorders at a British university. Cliff Arnall has analysed such factors as outdoor activities, nature, social interaction, childhood memories, temperature and holidays — data gathered over a period of 15 years in interviews with 3 000 people around the world.

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/ 23 June 2006

Somalis sceptical over peace accord

Somalis, weary of failed attempts to restore peace, expressed scepticism on Friday that the deal signed between the government and Islamic courts would end fighting for good in the shattered African nation. Although the hastily clinched deal signed on Thursday fell short of addressing the nitty gritty of power-sharing, it managed to extract a pledge to end clashes.

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/ 23 June 2006

Cold-eyed China

Celebrating a half century of dealings with Africa, China’s policies still wear the cloak of ideology but are increasingly driven by a cold-eyed self-interest. When it tied the diplomatic knot with Egypt in 1965 Beijing was speaking of mutual respect and mutual benefit — a refrain it maintained for the next 40 years or more.

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/ 23 June 2006

Exclusive! Evita joins Native Club

"I was invited to join the Native Club last week, so that should put paid to all those horrible rumours that the Native Club is racist, ie for black intellectuals only. I know that to many a blacks-only thing sounds terribly familiar, but in a democratic multiracial society, we have the right to decide," writes Gogo Evita Bezuidenhout.

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/ 23 June 2006

How to join the brains

Thank you for your application to join the newly formed intellectual <i>esprit de corps</i>, The Native Club. As expected there has been an overwhelming response to the formation of this provocative new cerebral delegation. In announcing The Native Club, our honourable President, Thabo Mbeki, said it should be an association of the very cream of African intellectuals.

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/ 23 June 2006

To protect and serve and hug

The negotiator gave up just before noon, and returned to the shade of the command centre behind the potted strelitzia in the main terminal. It was simply no good. “He won’t respect the talking stick,” he said, his face in his hands. “I’ve told him it’s a sharing experience, and that his comments are only embraced by his holding the talking stick as a physical representation of his identity.

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/ 23 June 2006

London calling

The cellphone and financial service sectors are in for a shake-up following the entry of Virgin into both markets. Virgin launched its mobile offering on Thursday and next week will see the unveiling of its credit cards. Virgin Mobile CEO Sajeed Sacranie says help is on the way for consumers who are fed up with South Africa’s existing mobile operators.