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/ 28 February 2006

China’s ‘new socialism’

Against a background of rising rural unrest, China recently unveiled ambitious plans to help the 800-million people living in the countryside catch up economically with people in the cities. More rural investment, agricultural subsidies and improved social services are the main planks of a policy to create a ”new socialist countryside”.

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/ 28 February 2006

Rushdie rails against Islamic ‘totalinarianism’

The recent violence surrounding the publication in the West of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad illustrate the danger of Islamic ”totalitarianism”, Salman Rushdie and a group of other writers said in a statement obtained on Tuesday. ”After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new global threat: Islamism,” they wrote.

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/ 28 February 2006

Municipal row: Court dismisses asset application

The Pretoria High Court on Tuesday dismissed urgent applications by four municipalities to stop the transfer of their assets and services to other provinces. The Merafong Demarcation Forum applied to restrain government from handing over at midnight on Tuesday their assets and service duties from Gauteng to the North West province.

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/ 28 February 2006

IEC plans to count votes by candlelight

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Western Cape is planning to conduct Wednesday’s municipal election as if there will be no power available in the province. ”We are planning for no electricity. That is the safest,” provincial electoral officer Courtney Sampson told a media briefing in Bellville on Tuesday afternoon.

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/ 28 February 2006

‘Execution order’ presented at Saddam trial

Iraqi prosecutors submitted to the court trying Saddam Hussein on Tuesday what they said was an execution order signed by the former Iraqi dictator, as his lawyers once again stormed out of the tribunal. Documents were presented linking Saddam to the trial and execution of 148 villagers from Dujail, north of Baghdad.

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/ 28 February 2006

Asmara rejects talks on border dispute

The Eritrean government has rejected a proposal by the United Nations Security Council to hold talks with an independent commission to resolve its ongoing border dispute with Ethiopia. ”The final and binding decision of the boundary commission marks the legal conclusion of the Eritrea-Ethiopia issue once and for all,” said the Eritrean foreign ministry on Monday.