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/ 6 June 2006

Monsanto loses court case over GM seeds price

India’s Supreme Court has upheld an order by a state government asking US biotech giant Monsanto’s Indian arm to cut the price of its genetically-modified Bt Cotton seeds, reports said on Tuesday. The southern state of Andhra Pradesh had last month asked Mahyco Monsanto not to charge more than 750 rupees ($16) for 450g of cotton seeds.

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/ 6 June 2006

Earthlife: The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Earthlife Africa is "disillusioned" by what it called South African Minister Alec Erwin’s "continuing confusion" about the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). "Erwin cites the PBMR as an efficient and economical method of providing power. Since its inception, costs and schedules on the PBMR have continued to escalate," Earthlife Africa said in a statement on Tuesday.

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/ 6 June 2006

East Timor: Rally calls for PM to step down

About 1 000 people in trucks and on motorcycles converged outside the offices of unpopular East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri on Tuesday to demand his resignation. More than 40 trucks carrying about 20 people each plus hundreds more on motorcycles reached the government offices on the Dili waterfront.

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/ 6 June 2006

Zim bread price goes up, again

The price of bread in Zimbabwe has gone up from Z$85&nbsp;000 (84 US cents) to Z$130&nbsp;000 ($1,28) for a standard loaf, with bakeries blaming the increase on the unavailability of flour and the rise in fuel prices, the state-owned <i>Herald</i> newspaper reported on Tuesday.

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/ 6 June 2006

‘I believe in SA democracy’

Former Movement for Democratic Change MP Roy Bennett was last week denied asylum by South Africa’s department of home affairs, which found that he does not face persecution in Zimbabwe. He has appealed against the decision to the Refugee Appeals Board. Bennett is affectionately known in Zimbabwe as Pachedu ("We can do it on our own").

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/ 6 June 2006

Babies and bathwater

Last week I received the following e-mail. It appeared to have emanated originally from some dusty fissure in the “humanities” division at the University of Cape Town. I use the word “division” advisedly. Our universities are gradually becoming wholly commercial in intent, their function to hand out degrees to recipients eager to get qualifications for jobs.

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/ 5 June 2006

SA ‘mercenary’ pardoned in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on Monday pardoned a suspected mercenary who was among a group of South Africans convicted over an alleged coup plot in 2004, the ministry of foreign affairs said. Marius Boonzaaier, who is critically ill, will be allowed to return to South Africa later on Monday or on Tuesday after he was granted the pardon on humanitarian grounds.

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/ 5 June 2006

Jakarta: ‘Pollution City’ and not afraid to admit it

With its hazy skies, traffic-clogged streets and fume-belching vehicles, the Indonesian capital Jakarta is poking fun at its constant state of pollution in a bid to clear the air. To mark World Environment Day, authorities on Monday unveiled six giant billboards around Jakarta reading "Welcome to Pollution City", with an illustration of a couple holding their noses.

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/ 5 June 2006

Manuel says markets will see corrections

High oil prices and the United States deficit of $800-billion were key reasons for the large sell-off that occurred on the stock markets last week, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Monday. He referred to the "yawning, gaping" $800-billion deficit and the rapid rise in the oil price which had been $11 a barrel "a few years ago" and was now standing "on the other side" of $70 a barrel.

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/ 5 June 2006

Telkom files for price reductions at Icasa

South African telecommunications giant Telkom on Monday filed for an overall price reduction to the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa). Telkom said that customers are set to benefit from overall price reductions from August this year if price changes filed by the telecommunications giant are approved by Icasa.

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/ 5 June 2006

Blood on the tracks

The strike by foot soldiers in the private security industry has been going on for weeks now. It is a wonder that any of us is still alive, given that we have begun to take for granted that they are our last defence against the Barbarians, in the absence of an effective police force that the average citizen takes as his or her constitutional right.

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/ 4 June 2006

French Resistance hero dies aged 99

Raymond Triboulet, a World War II Resistance fighter who helped to stage the D-Day landings in Normandy before serving as minister under Charles de Gaulle, died on Friday at the age of 99. Enrolled in the French army and taken prisoner at the start of the war, Triboulet returned home under the German occupation in 1941.

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/ 4 June 2006

Hell heats up for 666 party

They are planning a hot time in Hell on Tuesday. The day bears the date of 6-6-06, or abbreviated as 666 — a number that signifies the Beast, or the Antichrist, according to some apocalyptic theories. And there is not a snowball’s chance in Hell that the day will go unnoticed in the unincorporated hamlet 100km west of Detroit.

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/ 2 June 2006

Vehicle sales surge in May

Maintaining the impressive growth momentum of recent months, South Africa’s May aggregate new vehicle sales of 52&nbsp;534 units reflected an improvement of 6&nbsp;671 vehicles or 14,5% compared to the 45&nbsp;863 new vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) reported on Friday.

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/ 2 June 2006

Thousands bid for handbag used to hit All Black

Thousands of dollars have been bid on an Internet auction site for the handbag used by former All Black captain Tana Umaga to strike team mate Chris Masoe and reduce him to tears. Last weekend’s incident at a Christchurch bar after Masoe hit another patron has quickly become folklore and late on Friday morning the bidding had reached NZ$4&nbsp;500 ($2&nbsp;840).

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/ 2 June 2006

She has her father’s eyes. In her lunchbox

Standing in the doorway of her tent, Angelina Jolie tasted the sweet desert air. The Namibian landscape was breathtakingly beautiful, now that all the unsightly people had been removed. Her tongue flickered delicately from her mouth, unsoiled now by the rank flavour of the humans, and contentedly she licked the morning dew off the sunken bridge of her nose.

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/ 2 June 2006

The rift is a myth

The rift that is said to divide the African National Congress into two competing camps is a bit like the Loch Ness monster. Sightings are frequently reported in the media. But no one has ever been able to locate the animal or verify its existence. And, like the ever-elusive creature that is said to lurk in the dark waters of the Scottish highlands, the myth of deep-seated divisions in the ANC’s highest leadership structures remains pervasive.

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/ 1 June 2006

Mugabe seeks to reassure Zimbabwe mining firms

President Robert Mugabe on Thursday sought to reassure Zimbabwean mining firms over proposals to give the state a larger ownership share, saying they would not lead to property grabs. "We are not there to frighten away investors. We are not there even to take away that which is not ours. No. We are there purely to become partners in Zimbabwe," said Mugabe.

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/ 1 June 2006

Storms kill 28 in India

Lightning storms and monsoon rains lashing parts of India have killed at least 28 people and wrought havoc in the country’s commercial capital Mumbai, officials and witnesses said on Thursday. Strong winds with speeds of about 100kph, lightning and heavy rains killed at least 18 people and injured 21 in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh overnight, police said.

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/ 1 June 2006

Can you do the Crouch?

He looked a bit like an unoiled crane trying to manoeuvre in high winds, but Peter Crouch’s unusual goal celebration in England’s World Cup warm-up game has apparently sparked a dance craze. The 2,04m Liverpool striker embarked on the jerky blend of body-popping, robotic dancing and moonwalking after scoring England’s second in the 3-1 win against Hungary on Tuesday.