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/ 23 December 2005
The price of gold is expected to climb to fresh long-term highs during 2006, mainly on the back of investor demand for the metal, analysts and traders said. Other factors expected to boost gold in 2006 are increased central-bank buying of gold for reserve holdings as well as inflationary concerns.
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/ 23 December 2005
After a series of about-turns, the justice ministry on Thursday afternoon abandoned its attempt to embargo the news that former security police officer Gideon Nieuwoudt has been refused amnesty. Nieuwoudt, who died of cancer in August, applied for amnesty for his role in the 1989 Motherwell car-bomb killing.
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/ 23 December 2005
Ski season opened in China about a month ago, with skiers and snowboarders flocking to about a dozen stations on the weekends for a few days of carefree careening down the slopes — albeit slopes covered with artificial snow. Nanshan, a 10-slope village is run by private owners looking to cash in on the latest fad to captivate the country’s wealthy urban dwellers.
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/ 23 December 2005
”Don’t you just hate the Cape? Not only do they have those fabulous wines, but they can now lay claim to some of the best olives and olive oil as well. Do yourself a favour and when next you’re in a deli, hunt around for some Kloovenburg olive jam,” writes Elizabeth Badenhorst.
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/ 23 December 2005
A man was arrested after he allegedly set fire to a house, killing four people in Bez Valley, Johannesburg, on Friday morning. Three of the victims were children, said Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Steven Kirk. The man allegedly started the fire shortly after midnight after having an argument with his girlfriend.
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/ 23 December 2005
A British artist has outraged Roman Catholics around the world by advertising a statuette of the Virgin Mary enveloped in a condom in a respected Jesuit weekly. The artist, Steve Rosenthal, offered readers a chance to buy a ”a stunning 22cm statue of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent, wearing a delicate veil of latex”.
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/ 23 December 2005
An Israeli woman was jailed for three years on Thursday after pleading guilty to meeting one of the most wanted Palestinian militants and spending time in the West Bank town of Jenin. Tali Fahima was arrested last year after repeated visits to Jenin refugee camp to meet Zakaria Zubeidi, the leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
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/ 23 December 2005
A gas explosion inside a highway tunnel under construction killed 42 people and injured 11 others in south-west China’s Sichuan province, the government said on Friday. The explosion happened at an intersection of a highway being built to link the smaller cities of Dujiangyan and Wenchuan.
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/ 23 December 2005
The city’s subways rumbled to life just after midnight on Friday, ending a crippling, three-day strike that brought the nation’s largest public transportation system to a standstill. Faced with mounting fines and the rising wrath of millions of commuters, the city transit union on Thursday sent its members back to work.
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/ 23 December 2005
Roger Kebble has resigned from the board of Simmer and Jack mines, it was announced on Thursday. Kebble told the gold-mining company his decision was prompted by the need to spend more time with his family following the murder of his son Brett in September.