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/ 22 September 2004

Rescue rats spell hope for earthquake victims

Rats fitted with radio backpacks may soon help rescue teams locate earthquake survivors who are buried under rubble, the British weekly New Scientist reports in next Saturday’s issue. Researchers at the University of Florida in Gainesville and the State University of New York in Brooklyn have fitted rats with electrode implants in their brains, hooked up to a tiny radio transmitter that transmits a signal of their cerebral activity.

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/ 22 September 2004

Tobacco giants deny fraud in $280bn trial

The United States government opened a -billion civil trial against the giants of the tobacco industry on Tuesday, arguing that the firms conspired for decades to hide the dangers of smoking, and illegally marketed cigarettes to children. The landmark case, five years in the making, could also lead to tighter tobacco legislation, including a ban on such descriptions as ”low tar” and ”light” cigarettes.

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/ 22 September 2004

Raskol gangs rule world’s worst city

In Lagos, expect chaos. There are gun battles in Bogotá. Crime has been a curse in Karachi. But there is nowhere on earth quite like this. According to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the capital of Papua New Guinea has beaten all-comers — again — to take a title that no city on earth would covet.

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/ 22 September 2004

Senior E Cape official in R1,2m fraud arrest

A senior Eastern Cape government official and an accomplice were arrested on Wednesday morning for alleged fraud and corruption involving R1,2-million. The National Prosecuting Authority said the official allegedly received a R50 000 bribe for fraudulently advancing payment of R1,2-million to the accomplice’s company.

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/ 22 September 2004

Robber actors confound police

Three actors filming a bank-robbery scene in Novi Sad, northern Serbia, were mistakenly arrested by police, daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti reported on Wednesday. The three were running out of the bank wearing masks and carrying plastic guns, as the script demanded.

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/ 22 September 2004

Massacre survivors fear returning to Burundi

The killing remains vivid in their minds. And the deep scars on their bodies will continue to remind them of the slaughter of their compatriots at a refugee camp in the tiny central African nation of Burundi. These are the survivors of the massacre at the Gatumba refugee camp on August 13, about 20km from Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.