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/ 28 February 2006
The European Union announced on Monday that it will pay €138,6-million in emergency aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is on the verge of financial collapse. Brussels insisted that only a small part of the money (€17,4-million) will go directly to the caretaker Palestinian government.
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/ 28 February 2006
China declared its first victory in a centuries-old war against the desert on Monday after a campaign to plant 12-billion trees in five years finally made a small green dent in an ocean of sand dunes and dustbowls. Every March, government leaders join three million people who take up shovels on tree-planting day.
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/ 28 February 2006
The head of the world’s nuclear watchdog declared on Monday night that he cannot give Iran’s nuclear programme a clean bill of health, blaming Tehran for frustrating almost three years of inspections and detective work by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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/ 28 February 2006
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The rural community of Ndwedwe, north of Durban, has no electricity, running water and tarred roads, says an area headman. The community, which mainly lives in mud rondavels, often enquires about the slow pace of delivery, but they are told there is no money. ”Tell me one reason why I should vote,” says the headman.
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/ 28 February 2006
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Feeling abandoned by the party they helped bring into power and angered by conditions in townships, the Northern Cape’s Independent Party is ”praying” for the African National Congress to lose Wednesday’s local government election. ”I pray that the ANC will lose,” one of the party’s two candidates said on Monday.
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/ 28 February 2006
There will again be rolling blackouts in the Western Cape on Tuesday, Eskom announced in a news release. This was necessitated by multiple line faults that occurred at 2.13am that interrupted power to the province. Metrorail appealed to commuters to find alternative forms of transport as power outages disrupted train services.
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/ 28 February 2006
The South African Revenue Service has submitted a claim of R183-million against the estate of slain tycoon Brett Kebble, media reports said on Tuesday. Kebble, who was gunned down in Johannesburg in September last year, left his entire estate — estimated by his executors to be worth about R40-million — to his wife.
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/ 28 February 2006
First National Bank’s (FNB) Mzansi customers can now set up debit orders and perform third-party payments on their accounts via cellphone, automated teller machines and branches. This means that FNB is the first bank to improve its service offerings to its Mzansi customers.
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/ 28 February 2006
African Rainbow Minerals and Xstrata announced on Tuesday that agreement has been reached to establish a major black-controlled coal-mining company in a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction valued at R2,4-billion. The new company, ARM Coal, will have significant operating assets and growth projects in South Africa.
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/ 28 February 2006
Banking group FirstRand boosted diluted headline earnings per share by 19% from 62,9 cents to 74,8 cents for the six months ended December. The group declared a dividend of 32 cents per share, which was a 20% increase on the previous dividend. It said the strong results were achieved in a positive economic environment.