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/ 21 February 2008

MDC factions agree on failure in Zim

In an unusual show of unity, the two secretary generals of the two factions of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have described the dialogue that was meant to resolve the country’s meltdown as ”dead”, painting a dire scenario for Zimbabwe after its upcoming elections.

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/ 21 February 2008

Cyclone Ivan kills 22 in Madagascar

Cyclone Ivan killed at least 22 people on Madagascar this week and the death toll is expected to rise, government officials said on Thursday. Ivan, one of the largest cyclones to hit Madagascar, was packing winds of more than 200km/h when it hit the Indian Ocean island’s east coast earlier this week.

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/ 21 February 2008

Kenya govt agrees to PM post

Kenya’s government said on Thursday it agreed in principle to creating a prime minister’s post demanded by the opposition, in a possible breakthrough for a political crisis some worry could explode into violence again. Local and international pressure has grown for a deal to end the stand-off over President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election on December 27.

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/ 21 February 2008

Law firm criticises land numbers in budget

The Legal Resources Centre, a public-interest law firm working on land issues, expressed scepticism on Thursday at the claim in Wednesday’s national budget that the land-restitution process is nearing completion. An extra R1-billion will be set aside over the next three years to settle outstanding land-restitution claims.

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/ 21 February 2008

Budget coalition: Poor more in need of tax breaks

The 2008 national budget took a "business as usual" approach in failing to carry through President Thabo Mbeki’s commitment to change all South Africans’ lives for the better, the People’s Budget Coalition said on Thursday, adding that the government will not be doing anything fundamentally different from what it has done in the past.