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/ 22 February 2008
A Japanese man was arrested for trespassing this week after turning up at a high school dressed in a girl’s uniform and a long wig, local police said. Thirty-nine-year-old Tetsunori Nanpei told police he had bought the uniform over the internet and put it on to take a stroll near the school in Saitama.
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/ 22 February 2008
South Africa pacemen Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel took two wickets apiece to help the tourists rip through the Bangladesh top order, leaving the hosts on 85 for five at lunch on the opening day of the first Test on Friday. After winning the toss and opting to bat, Bangladesh’s hopes of making a good start were dashed almost immediately when Steyn caught and bowled promising opener Tamim Iqbal.
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/ 22 February 2008
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton talked each other to a stalemate on Thursday night in what the Clinton campaign had hoped would offer a decisive breakthrough for her ailing campaign. On issues ranging from the economy to the war to immigration the two demonstrated the closeness of their positions rather than any grand differences of policy.
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/ 22 February 2008
Tamil Tiger rebels said Sri Lankan government fighter jets killed five civilians in an air raid on their northern stronghold on Friday. Fighting between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has intensified since the government formally pulled out of a six-year-old ceasefire pact in January.
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/ 22 February 2008
President Robert Mugabe on Thursday compared ex-finance minister Simba Makoni to a ”prostitute” and said he was surprised by Makoni’s decision to challenge him in March presidential elections. In his first reaction to Makoni’s announcement to stand for the presidency in polls on March 29, Mugabe said his decision was ”absolutely disgraceful”.
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/ 22 February 2008
The controversial consulting company embroiled in an alleged 2010 stadium tender irregularity in Nespruit now faces a strike by its sub-contractors. The sub-contractors working on the construction of the 2010 Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit have threatened to strike next week because they haven’t been paid R9-million due to them.
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/ 22 February 2008
With Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya recently intimating that the child-support grant would eventually be extended to include children up to the age of 18 hopes had been raised in the child advocacy sector. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s capping of the grant at 15 was met with criticism from NGOs and lobby groups.
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/ 22 February 2008
Although land reform, including restitution, received an additional R2,6-billion this year to reach a new high of R6,6-billion, the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs got a dressing down from Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. At a press conference after the budget speech, Manuel questioned whether the department would be able to handle more funds.
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/ 22 February 2008
The accountants at the Treasury finally seem to have heard the desperate pleas from the Department of Defence. While the defence budget is set to increase by 6,1% in the next three years, the gradual winding down of major equipment acquisitions means slightly more is going to be left over to keep the military functional.
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/ 22 February 2008
Analysts say that Transport Minister Jeff Radebe has made all the right noises about public transport being the legacy of the 2010 World Cup and, if the budget is anything to go on, the Cabinet fully endorses his view. Trevor Manuel has allocated R6-billion to building public transport infrastructure over the next three years.