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/ 25 October 2003
A geomagnetic storm spawned by a giant eruption of gas on the sun has reached the Earth’s upper atmosphere, interfering with high-frequency airline communications but causing no major problems so far. Power companies were taking precautions to avoid voltage problems and blackouts.
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/ 25 October 2003
Thousands of residents were evacuated from their homes as a raging wildfire threatened hundreds of homes east of the United States city of Los Angeles on Friday. About 1 400 firefighters were battling to bring the fire under control as it menaced homes and forced the closure of two major freeways.
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/ 25 October 2003
In the late 1980s ambitious peasants in China’s impoverished Henan province established themselves as ”bloodheads” (brokers), selling their blood to officials desperate for money. Whole villages are HIV-positive due to this unregulated blood-selling operation, but authorities are only now starting to take steps.
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/ 25 October 2003
One more person has died and a hand belonging to a three-year-old child has been found near the scene of Friday’s truck accident on the Main Street in Mount Frere near Umtata, Eastern Cape transport officials said on Saturday. A truck travelling from Umtata collided with 12 vehicles, killing 11 and injuring 28.
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/ 25 October 2003
Deputy President Jacob Zuma has taken a swipe at the National Prosecuting Authority, saying three years was a long time for it to fail to find any evidence of wrongdoing or corruption against him, referring to the probe into allegations he was involved in corruption related to South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal.
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/ 25 October 2003
Wall Street’s biggest investment banks have begun jostling for the mandate to take Google public, the most eagerly anticipated flotation since the technology market crashed. The internet search engine, which has become one of the best known online brands, is expected to be valued at between -billion and -billion.
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/ 25 October 2003
After the bravery of the Georgians against South Africa the night before, Namibia simply ran up the white flag against Australia on Saturday. Amid pedantic refereeing and long injury breaks, the Aussies broke several World Cup and Australian records with their 142-0 win.
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/ 25 October 2003
Coach Rudolf Straeuli is demanding better ball retention and more aggression from his forwards in winning ruck ball when South Africa take on Samoa in their final Rugby World Cup pool game Brisbane next Saturday. There was an air of disappointment among the Springboks over their performance against Georgia on Friday.
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/ 25 October 2003
An Australian second-string XV brushed aside African minnows Namibia 142-0 in Adelaide on Saturday with a 22-try display that would have been stopped at half-time had it been a boxing match. Australia scored the biggest winning margin to date in World Cup history and rewrote most of their own national records.