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/ 20 January 2005

DA wants summit on crime against tourists

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk should break his silence on the escalating crime against tourists in Cape Town by calling a summit to address "this crisis" and raise its priority in the government’s Budget, the official opposition Democratic Alliance said on Thursday.

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/ 20 January 2005

Ex-SABC boss moves to Vodacom

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) outgoing CEO Peter Matlare has been appointed to Vodacom South Africa in the capacity of executive director: commercial, with effect from April 1, the group announced on Thursday.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleId=195693&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/">SABC boss resigns</a>

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/ 20 January 2005

Ever wanted to be on Fear Factor?

United States theme-park visitors will get the chance to confront their phobias when the often stomach-churning reality television show <i>Fear Factor</i> becomes a live amusement-park game. Universal Studios is planning the opening of its <i>Fear Factor Live</i> shows at its Hollywood and Orlando, Florida, theme parks.

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/ 20 January 2005

China considers South Pole post office

China is considering setting up a post office in Antarctica after several trial deliveries to the world’s southernmost continent, state media reported on Wednesday. The Beijing International Post Office plans to send an official to the Great Wall research station near the South Pole to investigate if there is a need for such a service.

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/ 20 January 2005

Scientists dip into New Zealand’s toilets

Excited archaeologists are sifting through the contents of 150-year-old New Zealand toilets to get a better understanding of the everyday lives of early settlers. Although there is plenty of oral and written history, there are gaps that can only be answered by lifting the lid on the sanitary habits of pioneering families, they say.

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/ 20 January 2005

No more belly dancing for Malaysian officials

A group of Malaysian local government officials has cancelled an Egyptian cruise and a troupe of belly dancers amid outrage at their all-expenses paid trip, media reports said on Thursday. Dinner on board a cruise ship on the Nile and the belly dancing have been replaced on their itinerary by an extended visit to the Egypt Museum.

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/ 20 January 2005

Scooting up Sani

Bored with those silly superbikes and adventure tourers? Want to experience a different side of two-wheeled fun? Do you have, or can you borrow a scooter for the weekend of 14 – 16 January? "If so, come spend the weekend riding up Sani Pass with a bunch of kindred souls" says Gavin Foster.

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/ 20 January 2005

Needle in a haystack

"What one wants in the CEO of South Africa’s public broadcaster is easy to identify, but hard to find: a commitment to the belief that broadcasting can be a force to improve society…and a resolute political independence that puts the Constitution and Bill of Rights, rather than the government and the ruling party, at the centre of the frame".

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/ 19 January 2005

Kebble case struck from court roll

Mining magnate Roger Kebble’s fraud case was struck from the roll of the Johannesburg Regional Court on Wednesday. According to the charge sheet, Kebble faced 62 counts of fraud relating to allegedly inflated invoices issued to Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD), on which DRD paid Skilled Labour Brokers. The excess money of about R7-million was allegedly in Kebble’s account.

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/ 19 January 2005

Pesky ads and Irish jokes

Journalists and advertisers are bound together like squabbling conjoined twins. Advertising pays most of a newspaper’s bills, while journalists bring the readers the advertiser wants to speak to. Anyone who has been in a media environment will be aware that it is a difficult relationship. Managed, in most cases, by keeping roles and responsibilities clearly separate.

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/ 18 January 2005

Was honest Abe Lincoln truly gay?

A new biography of Abraham Lincoln is making headlines with its assertion that the romantic leanings of the renowned 16th president of the United States were primarily homosexual. <i>The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln</i>, by CA Tripp, has ruffled more than a few feathers.

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/ 18 January 2005

Pharmacies must not be ‘bullied’

Pharmacists will not be breaking the law should they not abide by the government’s dispensing-fee rule for medication, and have nothing to fear from threats by the Department of Health to prosecute those who do not adhere to the government’s regulations, says Anthony Norton, attorney for the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=178127">Pharmacies charge ‘whatever they want'</a>

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/ 18 January 2005

New car sales at record high, but can it continue?

Sales in the local new vehicle market climbed to a record 22% last year, showing signs that the economy is arguably at its best in decades, eQuals group executive Loffie Geyser said on Tuesday. Geyser warned that the current mood of over-spending — due to low interest rates and the overall buoyant economic mood — could have a negative impact within the next 12 to 24 months.

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/ 17 January 2005

What about our prisoners, ask IFP and PAC

The Inkatha Freedom Party on Monday reacted to cleric Allan Boesak’s presidential pardon by focusing on the 394 names it has also submitted for pardon. It was announced over the weekend that Boesak had been granted a presidential pardon, which expunged his criminal record of fraud and theft.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=178042">Boesak’s pardon raises hackles</a>

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/ 17 January 2005

No leave, no pay for 17 years

A French cook who worked for no pay and no vacation for 17 years has won a case against his former employers after producing evidence of his exploitation that had lawyers shaking their heads in disbelief. A labour tribunal has awarded Philippe Pitiot &euro;70&nbsp;742 (about R558&nbsp;000) in back pay for the past five years.

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/ 17 January 2005

New Clicks turnover up 25%

Health and beauty retailer New Clicks has increased its turnover from continuing operations by 25% in the four months from September 1 to December 31 2004, versus the previous year, aided by the inclusion of pharmacy operations compared with the year-earlier period. Group sales totalled R2,97-billion for the four months.

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/ 17 January 2005

Devil not in details, says Russian church head

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexis II, assured his flock on Friday that new identification documents to be introduced in Russia will not contain the "sign of the Antichrist" despite scare-mongering rumors to the contrary, Itar-Tass reported. The patriarch was speaking ahead of a meeting of clerics in Moscow.

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/ 17 January 2005

Czech mayor taken for a ride

Tired of hearing reports of visitors paying grossly inflated prices for taxi rides in his city, the mayor of Prague disguised himself as an Italian visitor — and promptly unmasked a driver whose meter ran at more than six times the normal rate, a newspaper said on Friday.

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/ 17 January 2005

Haikona, me no tsunami this time

You know what, it’s hard to get your head around what they are really trying to get your head around these days. Who, for example, is Jeb Bush? What was he doing in Indonesia, walking around in sloppy trousers behind Colin Powell? Who, indeed, is Colin Powell? Isn’t he the guy who spent days arguing that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and therefore an invasion was necessary?

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/ 16 January 2005

Mandela family united by grief

Nelson Mandela’s grandson followed the former president’s example on Saturday by telling thousands of mourners at his father’s funeral that his mother had also died of Aids last year. Mandla Mandela was speaking at the funeral of his father, Makgatho (54), Nelson’s last surviving son.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=178012">Hundreds support Mandela at funeral</a>

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/ 16 January 2005

Abu Ghraib abuse firms are rewarded

Two United States defence contractors being sued over allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison have been awarded valuable new contracts by the Pentagon, despite demands that they should be barred from any new government work. Three employees of CACI International and Titan were separately accused of abusive behaviour.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=178000">US soldier guilty of jail abuse</a>

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/ 15 January 2005

Fast Cars Article Test Two

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/ 15 January 2005

Fast Cars Article Test

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/ 15 January 2005

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/ 15 January 2005

Vintage Cars Article Test

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/ 14 January 2005

And now for Gadaffi: The Opera

Having led his country back into the international mainstream after renouncing ambitions to build weapons of mass destruction, Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi is now being immortalised by a leading British opera company, it said on Thursday. The as-yet-unnamed work was commissioned by the English National Opera.

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/ 14 January 2005

Bar owner wants to sell holy oyster

After the revelation of a grilled-cheese sandwich allegedly bearing an image of the Virgin Mary in Florida last year, a bar manager in Switzerland said on Thursday he is ready to sell a Christ-like oyster shell. Matteo Brandi, who runs a bar in the western Swiss village of Roche, came across the shell while he was opening a batch of oysters.