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/ 9 December 2004
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has pressed Europe to overcome its differences on the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and rebuild the country, as the Pentagon revealed that elite US troops abused Iraqi prisoners with stun guns. Meanwhile, Japan has extended its troop deployment in Iraq by 12 months.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=176269">Rumsfeld faces troop dissent</a>
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/ 9 December 2004
Financial services group and life assurer Sanlam and Thebe Investment Corporation, the oldest black economic empowerment company in South Africa, announced on Thursday that they have entered into an agreement for Sanlam to become a strategic partner in Thebe’s financial-services proposition.
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/ 9 December 2004
At a loss as to what to get the guy who has everything? Ian Fraser has unearthed the items that your recipient is guaranteed to not have already. Try … the children’s knitted gimp suit, nipple guards, "pull my finger Santa dolls", road rage signs — and a range of other goodies Verimark won’t be trying to sell you — all available at a www near you.
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/ 9 December 2004
The <i>M&G</i> has always taken strong positions. Readers pay for a paper with attitude — sometimes they agree with it, sometimes they don’t. There are always some who are outraged, but the editorial philosophy is that debate, even intense disagreement, is better than lukewarm silence. So can the <i>M&G</i> be accused of anti-Americanism? Our ombud, Franz Krüger, takes a closer look.
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/ 8 December 2004
He’s skinny, he rarely baths and he lives in a derelict house with the ultra-creepy Basil Tramplebone, but Measle Stubbs is the good guy of the story and beneath the patchy clothes and smelly exterior is a sharp intellect and brave heart. Just as well really because Measle has his fair share of adversity to […]
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/ 8 December 2004
The current efforts to resolve the 18-year conflict in northern Uganda is "a historic opportunity to end the country’s humanitarian emergency", according to the United Nations emergency relief coordinator and under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland.
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/ 8 December 2004
A draft black economic empowerment (BEE) scorecard for South Africa’s tourism industry was launched in Cape Town on Wednesday. The draft BEE scorecard commits the tourism sector to attaining an overall level of ownership by blacks of tourism enterprises to the tune of 21% by the end of December 2009.
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/ 8 December 2004
FirstRand Bank Holdings has agreed to the proposed acquisition of 5% of its Namibian subsidiary FNB Namibia Holdings, which has a market capitalisation of N$1,3-billion, by a consortium of black Namibian investors and non-executive directors and staff.
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/ 8 December 2004
The wine industry in the Western Cape has been stunned by the illegal-flavourant scandal at KWV, the province’s agriculture minister, Cobus Dowry, said on Tuesday. "A scandal such as this has the potential to fundamentally damage this industry and if not addressed properly, take years to mend."
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=176153">Silver lining to SA’s wine scandal
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<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=176088">KWV names, shames winemakers</a>
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/ 7 December 2004
Harmony on Tuesday welcomed the rejection by Gold Fields’ shareholders of the mine’s proposed merger with Canada’s Iamgold and urged Gold Fields’ management to accept Harmony’s merger proposal. "Harmony believes that Gold Fields’ management should now abandon its ill-conceived defence," it said.
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/ 7 December 2004
The community of the western region in North West province initiated a Devil’s Claw project with the assistance of the provincial Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Tourism in 1999. The aim of the project is to improve the production yield by domesticating and propagating Devil’s Claw tubers from the veld.
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/ 7 December 2004
I was told that the GDE would process and authorise the claims of ABET educators at the end of every month and that payment would be effected as soon as possible after the end of every month. This has not been the case, writes Craig van der Merwe.
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/ 6 December 2004
Three gamblers who used a James Bond-style laser device to win more than a million pounds (R11-million) at a London hotel casino will not face prosecution, as they did nothing illegal, police said on Sunday. The trio used gadgetry to calculate where a roulette ball would land.
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/ 6 December 2004
Viewers of the Animal Planet cable and satellite channel have voted the tiger the world’s favourite animal, narrowly beating the dog, according to a poll published on Monday on its website, <i>Animalplanet.co.uk</i>. More than 50 000 viewers from 73 countries voted in the poll.
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/ 6 December 2004
The National Treasury discussion paper on retirement-fund reform fails to deal with the "most pressing problem" facing retirement funds in South Africa, namely excessively high taxation, says the official opposition deputy finance spokesperson, Pierre Rabie.
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/ 6 December 2004
Media and entertainment group Johnnic Communications (Johncom) disclosed on Monday that it hopes to be in a position soon to announce a new black empowerment stakeholder following the announcement by its controlling shareholder, Johnnic Holdings, that it plans to unbundle its 62,5% stake in Johncom.
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/ 6 December 2004
Wine and spirits producer KWV said on Monday that it has dismissed two winemakers who were found to be adding flavourants to Sauvignon Blanc. KWV said the winemaker for its 2004 Laborie Sauvignon Blanc, Gideon Theron, and Ian Nieuwoudt, the winemaker for the 2004 KWV Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, were dismissed after it was established that they were guilty of manipulating two lots of wines.
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/ 6 December 2004
The Constitutional Court has given rail commuters a reason to celebrate and reaffirmed their right to be safe from crime. Two weeks ago, the Constitutional Court ruled that Metrorail and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation were responsible for the safety of train passengers, effectively overturning the findings of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
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/ 3 December 2004
As the festive season approaches, world publishing displays its finery, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the cookery book industry. The stars and their publishers fight for display space with gaudy dollops of ink. The texts come from deep within the psyches of the sensitive celebrity chefs (and their ghostwriters), each one giving more than they’ve ever had to give.
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/ 3 December 2004
For those who are fascinated by South African history and political biography, several books offer excellent prospects for a "comradely Christmas".
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/ 3 December 2004
Always combative, conservative commentator RW Johnson gives an historical overview of this country’s past and a summation of his views on its present in South Africa: The First Man, the Last Nation (Jonathan Ball). Johnson argues that since 1994 crime, unemployment, inequality and Aids have flourished in President Thabo Mbeki’s South Africa, and he delivers […]
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/ 3 December 2004
Global freight rates for key shipping classes that move bulk commodities and grains are near or at all-time highs due to strong demand for ships to move commodities into China and Asia, freight analysts said. This is due to demand from Asia coupled with a shortage of ships
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/ 3 December 2004
In a split decision, the Cape High Court has rejected the appeal application by pharmacy groups including listed retailer New Clicks Holdings and the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa in their case challenging the government’s new medicine pricing regulations.
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/ 3 December 2004
Short-term outlooks are relatively favourable with the best chance for good rainfalls over the period December 6 to December 8, 2004 in South Africa’s maize belt, consultant Enviro Vision said in a statement said on Thursday. Regarding the size of the coming 2004/05 commercial maize crop, Enviro Vision put the crop at about 10 million tonnes, from the previous season’s 9,5 million tonnes.
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/ 3 December 2004
South African opposition leader Tony Leon has accused President Thabo Mbeki of intellectual "necklacing" against individuals -– including Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Leon said: "It is difficult to think of a single other democratic nation in which the head of state descends, with such dogged regularity, into public attacks on individual citizens."
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/ 3 December 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/140506/shaik_icon_new.gif" align=left>The trial of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik delivers a daily reminder of how the arms deal continues to rumble across the country’s political landscape, dragging corruption allegations and smashed reputations in its wake. This week the court relived the ignominious process whereby the Cabinet crushed an attempt by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts to flex its oversight muscles in probing the deal.
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/ 3 December 2004
A series of blunders by state-owned rail company Spoornet has brought the $5-billion (R30-billion) revamp of Zambia’s railway infrastructure to a standstill. The fiasco, which has resulted in the suspension of senior Spoornet executives and the institution of a forensic audit, has also raised questions about Spoornet’s capacity to assist the continent to revive its railways, many of which have ground to a halt.
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/ 2 December 2004
Growth in new vehicle sales continued unabated with sales in November showing a 32,1% increase over sales during the same month in 2003. A total of 41 663 vehicles were sold during November, which brings the year’s sales to date to 413 639 units.
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/ 2 December 2004
With the election of former environmental minister Valli Moosa – aka "action man" – as president of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), important environmental issues are likely to be pushed on to the international agenda. For the next four years Moosa will be the "global voice of conservation", as he told the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> last week after his election at the IUCN conference in Bangkok.
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/ 2 December 2004
There can be no question that Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has been brave in publicly questioning the government’s stance on the crisis in Zimbabwe and the inequities of the ruling approach to black economic empowerment. But it is debatable whether Cosatu’s leaders have effectively harnessed the federation’s considerable power in its attempt to reshape state policy.
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/ 1 December 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/142915/aids_icon.gif" align=left> The HIV/Aids pandemic has placed a heavy burden on the elderly, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) said on Wednesday, World Aids Day.
"The elderly are the unsung heroes of the current pandemic", said Dr Monde Makiwane, a researcher at the HSRC, who conducted a study on the elderly in Mpumalanga.
<li><a target="_blank" class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=Regulars-HivAidsBarometer&ao=125723">Worldwide HIV infections: 60 094 374</a>
<li> <a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=126369">’Very late’ HIV survey in SA prisons</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=126363">Some fear HIV/Aids, others cancer</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=126377">UN report on HIV/Aids</a>
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/ 1 December 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/142915/aids_icon.gif" align=left>HIV/Aids is a global threat on a par with nuclear terrorism, according to a United Nations report that warned of the potential of viral infections to claim tens of millions of lives worldwide in a matter of months. The report, commissioned by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and released on Tuesday, warned wealthy nations that, in an age of globalisation and mass travel, they ignored the scourge of Aids and other infectious illnesses at their own peril.