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/ 25 October 2006

Mini-budget: The good and the bad

While details of the government’s planned spending on the 2010 Soccer World Cup met with acclaim in the National Assembly on Wednesday, some other aspects of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s mini-budget drew criticism. Almost R15-billion over the next three years will go to major capital projects around the 2010 event.

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/ 25 October 2006

Anger as murder charges dropped against farmers

Four people accused of killing a suspected thief on a farm in South Africa, who died after being tied to a tree and beaten, walked free from court on Wednesday after murder charges were dropped. After a magistrate ordered that charges of murder be downgraded, the four all pleaded guilty to assault and were each fined R10 000 .

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/ 25 October 2006

Gerrard refuses to concede title

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has insisted his team can still win this season’s Premiership title despite currently being 11 points behind leaders Manchester United. Gerrard, so often Liverpool’s saviour, was well-policed during United’s victory at Old Trafford on Sunday, which meant the Merseysiders have still to win away from Anfield in the league this season.

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/ 25 October 2006

Putin alarmed by Georgia’s possible use of force

The Russian Federation is worried Georgia may try to resolve its problems with two separatist regions by resorting to force and is determined to prevent it doing so, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. The Kremlin leader, answering viewers’ questions on live television, said Moscow had no intention of taking in Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

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/ 25 October 2006

Iraqi PM distances himself from US

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki distanced himself on Wednesday from a United States-announced ”timeline” to end sectarian violence and criticised a raid on a Shi’ite militia stronghold aimed at a death squad leader. Al-Maliki, himself a Shi’ite Muslim, spoke a day after the top US civilian and military officials in Iraq said his government had agreed to a series of steps to end the bloodshed.

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/ 25 October 2006

No big surprises in mini-budget

Economists, the ruling party and the official opposition have reacted to the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement tabled in Parliament on Wednesday by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. ”There was nothing really there that was too unexpected,” said George Glynos, market analyst at ETM.