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/ 7 February 2008

Jeppestown accused want recusal of judge

The ”Jeppestown massacre” trial was on Thursday postponed at the Johannesburg High Court because some of the accused intended applying for the recusal of the judge. Eleven of the 13 accused indicated that they intended lodging a formal application for the recusal of Judge Ratha Motkgoatleng on the basis of reasonable apprehension of bias.

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/ 7 February 2008

Clinton, Obama wage money war

Republican frontrunner John McCain on Thursday offered an olive branch to his conservative enemies, as Democrat Hillary Clinton struggled to match Barack Obama’s multimillion-dollar money machine. Clinton faced reports she is stuck in a cash crunch after loaning her campaign -million.

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/ 7 February 2008

Hamas rejects Abbas truce offer

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered to help negotiate a ceasefire as Israel pounded Gaza on Thursday, killing seven people days after a suicide bombing claimed by Hamas rulers. Hamas promptly rejected the offer, with spokesperson Fawzi Barhum branding it a ”blackmail attempt against the Palestinian people”.

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/ 7 February 2008

Fires ravage Western Cape

Seventeen runaway fires were ravaging the Western Cape on Thursday afternoon, with the two most serious blazes at Simonstown, Cape Town chief fire officer Ian Schnetler said on Thursday. The two fires were reported at Redhill at 9am and at Naval Base at 11am and were burning strongly, he said.

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/ 7 February 2008

Potch name change to Tlokwe to be challenged

AfriForum and Aksie Potchefstroom would challenge the name change of Potchefstroom to Tlokwe in court, the civil movements said on Thursday. Spokesperson Theo Venter said AfriForum and Aksie Potchefstroom had opened a case against a member of the executive council, Howard Yawa, and the city council regarding the name change.

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/ 7 February 2008

Cape Town spy commission is unlawful, says Zille

The Erasmus commission appointed to look into the Cape Town city council ”spy” saga is ”unlawful and unconstitutional”, city mayor Helen Zille said on Thursday. Zille said she had written a letter to Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool asking him to reconsider the commission on the grounds that it was a ”gross abuse of power”.

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/ 7 February 2008

All eyes on Mbeki ahead of address

There is a greater public sense of anticipation about what President Thabo Mbeki will say in his State of the Nation address on Friday than before any previous such speech he has delivered since assuming office in 1999. This is in part due to the recent dramatic twist in Mbeki’s political fortunes.

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/ 7 February 2008

Cricket row described as ‘ridiculous’

Proteas coach Mickey Arthur has laid a counter-charge of ”disrespectful and abusive behaviour” against Cricket South Africa (CSA) chairperson Norman Arendse. Arendse confirmed on Thursday that he had laid a charge against Arthur for ”disrespectful and abusive behaviour and for not complying with CSA’s policy of transformation”.