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/ 1 June 2006

Primedia spends R40m on acquisitions

South African listed media group Primedia has completed three acquisitions valued at R40-million. This follows Primedia’s recent successful placement of R150-million of perpetual preference shares. The company said on Thursday that the acquisitions will bolster existing businesses as well as further diversify its media base.

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/ 1 June 2006

Zimplats in empowerment agreement

South African platinum miner Impala Platinum Holdings said on Thursday that its subsidiary Zimplats has reached agreement with Zimbabwe government that creates the platform for further large scale investments in the company. Zimplats signed an agreement with the government relating to the release of a portion of its mining claims in exchange for a combination of empowerment credits and cash.

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/ 1 June 2006

More magazines for Media24

Media24 has launched into Angola with a monthly Portuguese publication titled <i>TV24</i>. It is a joint venture with MultiChoice and was officially launched in April. “The aim of the publication is to offer Angolans television listings in a language they understand and can read,” says editor Lino Fonseca.

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/ 1 June 2006

Bring the debate into the open

So we are all supposed to withdraw quietly now and heave huge sighs of relief. The national executive committee of the African National Congress has assured us: there is no leadership tussle; succession is a foreign concept, only applicable to dynasties and inimical to the ANC. ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe apparently does not believe President Thabo Mbeki has usurped reduced him to an administrative clerk.

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/ 31 May 2006

‘Troops in Afghanistan fired in self-defence’

The United States-led coalition in Afghanistan said on Wednesday an initial investigation showed that troops opened fire in "self-defence" this week after a deadly traffic accident set off widespread rioting. Afghan officials had told the coalition that 20 people were killed and 160 wounded in the accident and subsequent rioting that engulfed the city on Monday.

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/ 31 May 2006

Harrods boss welcomes renewed Diana death probe

The father of Princess Diana’s dead lover welcomed the news on Wednesday that fresh witnesses and evidence have been found as part of a probe into the car crash that killed the couple in Paris in 1997. Mohammed al-Fayed also said he hoped Sir John Stevens, a former top police officer who is leading the investigation, would continue his work until he found "the truth".

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/ 31 May 2006

April trade deficit larger than expected

South Africa recorded a deficit of R2,418-billion for its trade with non-Southern African Customs Union trading partners in April after a deficit of R2,877-billion in March, according to the latest Customs and Excise figures released on Wednesday. Said Ridle Markus, economist at Absa: "The figure was slightly above expectations."

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/ 31 May 2006

Global economy experiencing strong growth

The global economy has entered a strong growth trajectory, and sustainable economic recoveries in regions such as the Euro zone and Japan are adding impetus to the process, says Chris Hart, Absa Group treasury economist. However, serious global economic imbalances are a blight on the otherwise positive outlook in the global economy.

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/ 31 May 2006

Inflation-hit Zimbabwe unveils Z$100 000 banknote

Zimbabwe’s central bank will issue a new Z$100 000 banknote after inflation topped 1 000% last month, one of the world’s highest rates, a state daily reported on Wednesday. The new banknote, worth US98c, will go into circulation on Thursday and will hold tender until December, the <i>Herald</i> newspaper said. Zimbabwe started introducing bearer cheques with a temporary validity three years ago.

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/ 31 May 2006

Inflation-hit Zimbabwe unveils Z$100 000 banknote

Zimbabwe’s central bank will issue a new Z$100 000 banknote after inflation topped 1 000% last month, one of the world’s highest rates, a state daily reported on Wednesday. The new banknote, worth US98c, will go into circulation on Thursday and will hold tender until December, the <i>Herald</i> newspaper said. Zimbabwe started introducing bearer cheques with a temporary validity three years ago.

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/ 30 May 2006

Fire engulfs Kazakhstan skyscraper

Firefighters in the Kazakh capital Astana were on Tuesday battling to put out a blaze at a 32-storey skyscraper dubbed the "cigarette lighter". Flames and smoke could be seen pouring out of the building, which houses the ex-Soviet Central Asian state’s transport and communications ministry.

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/ 30 May 2006

UN envoy: Somalia on the brink of disaster

Somalia is on the brink of major disaster as conflict spirals out of control in Mogadishu and donors fail to respond to humanitarian emergencies in the lawless nation, a senior United Nations envoy said on Tuesday. Already beset with drought and poverty, the people of Somalia have been further hit by the fighting that has engulfed the capital.

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/ 30 May 2006

Daewoo founder sentenced to 10-year jail term

Daewoo Group founder Kim Woo-Choong was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for fraud and embezzlement relating to the collapse of the firm under heavy debts. The Seoul Central District Court said Kim, aged 69 and in poor health, was also ordered to repay 21,4-trillion won ($22,5-billion dollars) in restitution, along with a fine of 10-million won.

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/ 30 May 2006

Eagles, birdies — crocodiles!

Townsville Golf Club president Terry Walsh thought golfers reporting crocodiles on the course were hallucinating — until he saw them himself. "For the last two years, the people I play golf with have been saying there were crocs on the course and I thought they were on drugs," Walsh told the Australian Associated Press in the tropical northern city.

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/ 30 May 2006

Vodacom’s profits keep on rising

South African cellular operator Vodacom on Tuesday reported a group-wide customer increase of 51,9% to 23,5-million for the year ended March. Revenue was up 24,6% to R34-billion, while profit from operations rose by 36,9% to R8,9-billion. Vodacom reported net profit after taxation up 32% to R5,1-billion.

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/ 29 May 2006

Indonesia: UN urges speedy aid effort

United Nations agencies called on Monday for field hospitals, medicines and tents to be rushed to Indonesia within days as the global relief effort to help tens of thousands of earthquake victims gathered pace. In Geneva, UN and Red Cross agencies met to try to coordinate the huge mobilisation.

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/ 29 May 2006

Obasanjo urges Nigeria to seek good governance

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday urged Nigerians never to compromise on good governance and to shun corruption, in a speech to the nation marking the return of democracy seven years earlier. "We must never compromise on the need for good governance. It is the key to democratic sustainability and consolidation," Obasanjo said.

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/ 29 May 2006

NUM members elect new leadership

Members of the trade union National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) elected a new leadership during the organisation’s twelfth congress on the weekend. NUM president Senzeni Zokwana was re-elected and the congress elected Frans Baleni as the union’s new general secretary. The congress bade farewell to its outgoing general secretary, Gwede Mantashe.

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/ 29 May 2006

Africa maritime conference targets pirates

Ridding the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea of pirates is likely to top the agenda at a three-day conference on African maritime security starting on Monday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Two hundred delegates representing 47 countries and 13 international organisations are expected at the second Sea Power for Africa Symposium.

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/ 29 May 2006

Iran spurns EU nuclear offer

Iran on Monday spurned the prospect of European Union incentives to end its nuclear programme, saying the bloc must acknowledge its right to nuclear technology. "The main incentive for Iran is to recognise the essential right of Iran to have nuclear technology," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said when asked about the incentive plan.

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/ 29 May 2006

Buenos Aires booms as gay tourist destination

Argentina’s buzzing Buenos Aires has turned into a top Latin American destination for homosexual tourists, as the capital gets its gay-friendly message out to lure fresh revenue. The recent designation of the city as Latin America’s first host of a homosexual football World Cup and an opening of a wine bar catering to gays are some of the latest effects of Buenos Aires’s rising star.