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/ 23 February 2006

India bird-flu town sealed off

Health officials sealed off an Indian town hit by bird flu for a week-long ”quarantine” on Thursday as immediate fears began easing that the deadly virus may have spread to humans. Checkpoints were set up on all roads in and out of the town of Navapur and trains passed through its station without stopping.

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/ 23 February 2006

Small town, big pylons: Tulbagh vs Eskom

The historic town of Tulbagh is anxiously waiting to see if Eskom goes ahead with a proposed power line to supplement the electricity needs of the Western Cape. ”We are watching developments [in Cape Town] with concern,” said John Veschini, property developer and secretary to the Tulbagh Action Committee, on Thursday.

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/ 23 February 2006

Thaba Nchu residents need schools and houses

Better houses, toilets, helping grandparents with school fees and voting for the African National Congress were the topics Thaba Nchu residents discussed with President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday. The president was visiting the town as part of the ANC’s door-to-door campaign for the local government elections.

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/ 23 February 2006

Pretoria court postpones ANC hoax e-mail case

The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has postponed the case against an IT consultant accused of withholding information about hoax e-mails mentioning senior African National Congress officials. The state and defence had agreed to postpone the case for both parties ”to discuss the status of the case”, chief prosecutor Matric Luphondo said.

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/ 23 February 2006

Quake sows panic in Southern Africa

The death toll in the powerful quake that hit Mozambique on Thursday morning was still uncertain with authorities still visiting rural areas to assess the impact there. Up to two deaths have been reported so far. The quake could be felt as far afield as Harare and Durban, and Johannesburg’s emergency services also received quake-related calls.

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/ 23 February 2006

Dozens of bodies discovered in Baghdad

Iraqi police recovered the bodies of dozens of people in Baghdad on Thursday as violence spread across the country following the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra. The bodies were found riddled with bullets as fears grew that the country was sliding into civil war after the attack on Wednesday which destroyed the golden dome on the al-Askari shrine.