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/ 28 February 2006
Cigarette giant British American Tobacco (BAT) announced on Tuesday a 29% slump in pre-tax profits to £2,588-billion ($4,503-billion) in 2005, but the data was skewed by big deals from the previous year. BAT, maker of Kent and Dunhill cigarettes, said in an official results statement that revenue sank 13% to £9,325-billion last year, compared with 2004.
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/ 28 February 2006
Eritrea has rebuffed suggestions for fresh talks over the border stalemate with arch-foe Ethiopia, calling such proposals ”deviations” from the 2002 independent border ruling. Asmara was reacting late on Monday to proposals last week by observers to the 2000 peace deal that ended the Horn of Africa countries’ border war.
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/ 28 February 2006
The fierce opposition in the United States to a management takeover of six US ports by a Dubai-based company is seen by Gulf analysts as unjustified and even racist. "There is a racist dimension in this matter, and that is because the firm linked to the deal is Arab, which, in the opinion of some people, should not manage US ports," said Emirati political analyst Abdul Khaleq Abdullah.
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/ 28 February 2006
A 20-year-old woman has made it big with the Philadelphia Orchestra — she’s been hired to be its tuba player, a job normally held by men in major orchestras. ”The fact that she is a young woman playing a very un-womanlike instrument is really extraordinary,” said Christoph Eschenbach, the orchestra’s music director.
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/ 28 February 2006
It’s a rumour that has spread through Premier Soccer League soccer circles like wildfire. But the first official indication that top Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Calvin Marlin is heading from Supersport United to compulsive-spending Mamelodi Sundowns next season was provided on Monday by Brazilians coach Neil Tovey.
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/ 28 February 2006
The South African Football Association (Safa) technical committee has been mandated to ”secure” a coach for Bafana Bafana by mid-April. This was revealed on Monday night by Safa CEO Raymond Hack after a protracted meeting of the association’s executive.
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/ 28 February 2006
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has resigned, the Spanish first-division club confirmed on Monday. ”Real Madrid needs change and this is the right moment for me to leave the presidency,” Perez said at a press conference. ”I am convinced this is the boost the club needs.”
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/ 28 February 2006
Fast-bowler Glenn McGrath ruled himself out of Australia’s cricket Test series against South Africa for family reasons on Tuesday, Australian Associated Press reported. McGrath has chosen to remain in Australia to be with his wife, Jane, who is fighting cancer.
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/ 28 February 2006
Ethiopian officials announced on Tuesday that tests are under way at a southern poultry farm after thousands of chickens died of a ”bird-flu-like” disease. The fear is that the disease will turn out to be the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus that has killed more than 90 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003.
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/ 28 February 2006
Heavy rains in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, have caused several houses and shops in the town to be flooded, resulting in thousands of rands in damages, a municipal spokesperson said on Tuesday. Segale Pilane said a municipal task team was on its way to the affected areas to assess the extent of the damage.