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/ 6 September 2004
Former Gauteng finance minister Jabu Moleketi was not involved in finalising the details of a contract that allegedly contravenes the Public Finance Management Act, the province’s current finance minister said on Monday. ”The former MEC was briefed, but not involved in the final shareholders’ agreement that established the company [Capstone 518],” he said.
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/ 6 September 2004
The government has no intention of building low-cost homes in upmarket suburbs, as claimed in a <i>Sunday Times</i> report at the weekend, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Monday. She described the newspaper’s front-page headline — "Low-cost houses for elite suburbs" — as "unfortunate" and "regrettable".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=121703">DA frets about property values</a>
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/ 6 September 2004
Nigerian security services raided the offices of an independent weekly newspaper critical of the government, arresting one of its staff and seizing computers, its deputy editor said on Sunday. ”We have been exposing corruption in the government and they are not at all happy with us,” the paper’s deputy editor said.
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/ 6 September 2004
Peace talks between Darfur’s rebel groups and the Sudanese government were stalled on Monday over the issue of disarmament, as an African Union-brokered conference entered its third week, AU officials said. ”The two sides are sticking to their hardline positions,” said the commander of the AU ceasefire monitoring team in Darfur.
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/ 6 September 2004
Iraqi security officers stormed al-Jazeera’s Baghdad offices and sealed the newsroom with red wax at the weekend after the United States-backed interim government banned the Arabic television station from broadcasting in the country. The raid followed a decision by the prime minister, Ayad Allawi, to close the station temporarily in August because of its apparent failure to support the US occupation.
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/ 6 September 2004
At least 90 people were killed and 77 were missing in torrential storms lashing south-west China, disaster relief officials said on Monday. At least 66 were killed and 50 were missing in Sichuan province while 24 people died and 27 were missing in Chongqing municipality.
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/ 6 September 2004
The World Bank has approved -million for programmes aimed at reducing poverty and improving the road network in Uganda, the bank said in a statement on Monday. ”The project will help rehabilitate or upgrade a total of 830km of national roads, and improve or rehabilitate 1 300km of district roads,” the statement said.
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/ 6 September 2004
Disney on Monday dismissed claims that its new Hong Kong theme park will only have enough activities to keep visitors occupied for four hours, saying it will offer a full day of fun. The company described as ”unfounded” a report in the satirical magazine Spike, which said there are concerns over the park having only one major ride.
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/ 6 September 2004
Russian television on Monday paraded what officials said was the only suspected hostage-taker still alive of the gang who held 1 000 children and adults in a school in southern Russia for three days. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday welcomed Israel’s offer of help in combating militant groups.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=121696">Frantic search for missing in Beslan</a>
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/ 6 September 2004
Typhoon Songda had injured 21 people by Monday morning as it approached the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, officials said. Songda, named after a Vietnamese river, came as the meteorological agency warned that another typhoon, Sarika, was on course to approach Japan this week.