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/ 27 February 2006
If corruption was the lubricant that in the past oiled Kenya’s politics, it is now the enfant terrible that gobbles up its progenitors. Three weeks ago, this horrible child of Kenya’s politics strolled into town, scalping no less than three of President Mwai Kibaki’s ministers and his personal assistant.
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/ 26 February 2006
Tens of thousands of Brazilians crammed the streets of Rio on Saturday, dancing to powerful samba rhythms in their world-famous street party that this year provided the perfect getaway for thieves who snatched art treasures worth millions and used the cover of carnival crowds to make their escape.
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/ 26 February 2006
United States actor Don Knotts, famous for his portrayal of the bumbling, jittery deputy on the television comedy series <i>The Andy Griffith Show</i>, has died at the age of 81, news reports said on Saturday. Knotts is also known for his role on another television comedy series in the 1970s and 1980s, <i>Three’s Company</i>.
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/ 24 February 2006
Matsushita Electric Industrial’s newly appointed president on Friday expressed confidence that the company and its partners would win the battle for dominance in next-generation DVD players. Fumio Otsubo, named on Thursday as head of the Japanese electronics giant behind the Panasonic brand, said he would uphold his predecessor’s policy of promoting the Blu-ray standard.
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/ 24 February 2006
What is the meaning of the upheavals in Khutsong, the mining township west of Johannesburg that has forced itself from obscurity into the headlines? In this ruling party stronghold, residents burnt homes of election candidates of the African National Congress. They almost ran ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota out of town last week and plan to boycott next Wednesday’s election.
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/ 23 February 2006
South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) rose by 5,5% year-on-year (y/y) in January from a 5,1% y/y increase in December, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. The PPI declined by 0,1% on a monthly basis after December’s monthly increase of 0,1%. The PPI was expected to have risen by 5,8% y/y, according to an I-Net Bridge survey of economists.
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/ 23 February 2006
China warned outspoken Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen on Thursday not to mix politics and religion, after Pope Benedict XVI named him a cardinal. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao also said Beijing’s position on refraining from establishing diplomatic ties with Rome had not changed because of the appointment.
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/ 23 February 2006
An Australian businessman who faked his own death nearly six years ago in an attempt to cash in a 3,5-million Australian dollar ($2,5-million) life insurance policy was jailed on Thursday for 15 months. Harry Gordon (56) who was declared officially dead after an apparent boating accident but never received the money, was also ordered to compensate police Aus$22 000 for the costs of searching for him.
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/ 23 February 2006
South Africa’s Competition Tribunal on Thursday blocked the merger between Sasol — the country’s largest producer of refined white fuels and Engen, the country’s largest retailer of fuel products. The merged entity would have enjoyed a near monopoly of refinery capacity and a considerable retail market share in the inland market, the tribunal said.
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/ 22 February 2006
The South African Revenue Service has issued a tender for a proof of concept Linux desktop solution for the tax-collecting government department with a R355-billion revenue. A successful proof of concept could see 14 000 desktops running Windows migrated to Linux.
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/ 22 February 2006
South Africa’s consumer price index excluding mortgage rate changes (CPIX) for metro and other areas, which is used by the South African Reserve Bank for its inflation target, rose by 4,3% year-on-year in January after increasing by 4% in December, Statistics South Africa said.
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/ 22 February 2006
Anglo American South Africa CEO Lazarus Zim is to relinquish his executive responsibilities in Anglo American group and his directorship of Anglo Platinum and will in future be involved in the future empowerment of the mining sector and
specifically with the BEE structures being developed for Anglo Platinum.
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/ 22 February 2006
"Khadija Magardie raises important points about women intellectuals and their lack of access to public discourse in her commentary (‘Where are all the clever chicks?’, February 6). Her critiques of gender machinery and the hollow, official rhetoric around gender issues are justified and compelling," writes Barbara Boswell.
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/ 21 February 2006
A health and safety meeting in a British factory building turned unexpectedly realistic on Tuesday when a floor suddenly collapsed, injuring four of the 21 participants. Firefighters were summoned to the Hyde Buildings in Manchester, northwest England, when the floor collapsed just as the assembled health and safety officers were discussing evacuation procedures.
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/ 21 February 2006
President Robert Mugabe turned 82 on Tuesday and was showered with praise and birthday wishes despite Zimbabwe’s mounting economic woes. The state daily <i>Herald</i> published a 16-page supplement of pictures of Mugabe and congratulatory messages while the private <i>Daily Mirror</i> dedicated eight pages to his birthday.
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/ 21 February 2006
A university in Poland has banned an exhibition of T-shirts bearing slogans such as "I didn’t cry when the Pope died" and "I’ve got Aids," saying the show was too provocative, press reports said on Tuesday. "The texts printed on the T-shirts could have offended the feelings and beliefs of many people," said Wieslaw Kaminski, president of UMCS University.
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/ 21 February 2006
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) in Southern Africa on Tuesday announced that it spent nearly R600-million ($100-million) in 2005 — double the amount in 2004 — buying more than half a million tonnes of food in the region to support vulnerable people across Africa.
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/ 21 February 2006
As gays and lesbians become more visible in South African townships, they are increasingly becoming targets of homophobia, according to rights activists. The organisations were reacting to reports at the weekend of the murder of a young lesbian in a township in Cape Town.
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/ 21 February 2006
South African banking group Absa on Tuesday reported an 18,3% increase in diluted headline earnings per share from a pro forma 600,7 cents to 710,9 cents a share for the nine months ended December 2005. Basic headline earnings per share for the nine-month period were up 20% from a pro forma 617 cents to 740,4 cents.
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/ 21 February 2006
South African chemicals and explosives company AECI on Tuesday reported a 23% increase in headline earnings per share to 482 cents for the year ended December 2005, from 392 cents a year ago. On a fully diluted basis, headline earnings per share were 473 cents from 383 cents per share.
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/ 21 February 2006
Liberty Life chairperson Derek Cooper announced on Tuesday that the group’s CEO, Myles Ruck, is to leave the company after his service-retention agreement expires on May 31 because of personal reasons. Ruck has been invited to remain on the board of the Standard Bank Group as a non-executive director.
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/ 20 February 2006
Fugitive Zimbabwean business tycoon Billy Rautenbach, who is also a top ally of President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party, has been given up to May to vacate his farm as the government appears determined to seize all land still in the hands of whites, reports independent news service ZimOnline.
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/ 20 February 2006
State-run Indian, formerly Indian Airlines, signed an agreement on Monday for the purchase of 43 Airbus planes worth $2,5-billion, marking the domestic carrier’s first expansion in 15 years. The deal was inked by Indian chairperson Vishwapati Trivedi and Airbus Vice President Kiran Rao at a ceremony overseen by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting French President Jacques Chirac.
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/ 20 February 2006
The story has presented journalists with many ethical pitfalls, and the media have come in for a good deal of criticism. Most recently, Zuma hit at the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> for its report (December 2) that he told senior alliance leaders he had had consensual sex with the woman who has accused him, but denied raping her.
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/ 19 February 2006
Murdered mining magnate Brett Kebble had an intimate relationship with a young man, the Afrikaans-language <i>Rapport</i> newspaper reported on Sunday. The newspaper said the relationship came to light during the investigation into the wealthy businessman’s shooting death in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs in 2005.
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/ 19 February 2006
A poultry farmer has died of suspected bird flu while health workers were carrying out a mass culling of birds after India was hit by the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, officials said on Sunday. The strain has also been detected in a wild duck found dead in France, and 135 wild swans found dead in Iran have tested positive for H5N1.
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/ 17 February 2006
<b>Simon Grindrod</b> for the Independent Democrats.
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/ 17 February 2006
Like Mafia-type organisations around the world, the "Boere-mafia" of Nelspruit operate with stealth.
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/ 17 February 2006
<b>Nomaindia Mfeketo</b> for the African National Congress.
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/ 17 February 2006
Rival Somali sub-clans battled over pasture and wells just inside Ethiopia leaving at least 12 dead and more than two dozen wounded in a second day of fighting on Thursday as competition for water and pasture heats up in the drought-stricken region, officials said.
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/ 17 February 2006
There’s a lizard on the loose in peaceful Cambridgeshire, a 1,2m black and white Argentinian tegu lizard that goes by the name of Gonzo. "I suspect anyone coming across him will be terrified," said Gonzo’s owner James Burfield (22) who suspects the reptile escaped last Saturday after the family dog pushed open the door of its tank when no one was looking.