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/ 19 February 2008
The first of South Africa’s long-planned "new generation" prisons should be completed by February next year, MPs heard on Tuesday. The R662-million Kimberley Correctional Centre was more than one-third completed by the end of last month, prisons commissioner Vernie Petersen said.
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/ 19 February 2008
Two South African men were arrested while trying to smuggle nearly R750-million worth of heroin into the country at the Beit Bridge border post from Zimbabwe, Limpopo police said on Tuesday. Police said the heroin was found in a secret compartment at the base of the truck.
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/ 19 February 2008
Japan’s top court ruled on Tuesday that pictures by late United States photographer Robert Mapplethorpe are not obscene, putting an end to years of legal fighting. In the 2003 ruling, the Tokyo High Court ruled that the book, which included images of male genitals, went ”against good sexual morality”.
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/ 19 February 2008
The enigmatic Yuvraj Singh finally returned to form to lead India to a thrilling and crucial two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their vital tri-series match in Adelaide on Tuesday. The left-hander burst out of his tour-long slump to make a polished 76 as the Indians successfully chased down Sri Lanka’s 238 for six.
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/ 19 February 2008
A man and a woman travelling in a white BMW were critically injured outside Hillary Primary School in Durban on Tuesday morning after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, which had stopped near the school. Donovan Pillay (26) was seated in the car with Leanne Armugam — the wife of his cousin, local taxi boss Duncan Armugam.
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/ 19 February 2008
Recent cases of spying involving the mayor of Cape Town and a report alleging a conspiracy to bring down the government are part of apartheid ”baggage”, Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils said in Cape Town on Tuesday. He said it is a ”knee-jerk reaction” to assume that the National Intelligence Agency is behind such cases.
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/ 19 February 2008
The disbanding of the Scorpions is still only a ”proposal” and will go to Parliament and include public participation, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said in Cape Town on Tuesday. The unit will also stay on the high-profile cases on which it is currently working, he told a media briefing on the future of the criminal justice system.
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/ 19 February 2008
Japan’s Toshiba conceded defeat on Tuesday to rival Sony in a long-running DVD format war, ending consumer confusion but leaving about one million people with expensive machines doomed to become obsolete. Toshiba said it will stop selling its HD DVD machines by the end of March.
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/ 19 February 2008
The People’s Budget Coalition has reiterated its call for a basic income grant as part of its national budget wish list. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel tables the national budget on Wednesday. The coalition comprises the Congress of South African Trade Unions, South African National NGO Coalition and the South African Council of Churches.
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/ 19 February 2008
Light is all its going to take to connect South Africans and the rest of Africa to Europe and Asia via the Middle East by 2010. International contractor Seacom is building and will own and operate a high-capacity undersea cable that will stretch over approximately 17 000km, providing cheap bandwidth at high volumes.