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/ 14 February 2006

St Valentine’s Day massacre

Adam Gilchrist hammered the fastest one-day hundred by an Australian in a Valentine’s Day massacre of Sri Lanka’s bowlers at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday to clinch the triangular limited-overs series. Gilchrist thrashed a spectacular 122 off 91 balls and shared in a 196-run opening stand with Simon Katich to set up the Australians for an overwhelming nine-wicket victory.

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/ 14 February 2006

Wanted: Teacher training plan

As many university education faculties face financial meltdown, South Africa is training only about a third of new teachers needed to replace those leaving the school system each year, according to a government report. The report observes that there are about 350 000 state-employed teachers in public schools.

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/ 14 February 2006

Manuel may explain new form of business tax

Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel is expected to provide further details in Wednesday’s national Budget about the new form of business tax that will take the place of regional service council levies — including when enabling legislation is likely to be put to Parliament, says Local Government Research Centre head Clive Keegan.

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/ 14 February 2006

Demonstrations mar Haiti vote count

René Préval (63) was expected to appeal for calm in Haiti on Tuesday following protests over a vote count that put him short of the 50% he needs to be elected president in the first round. Tension remained high as Préval’s supporters insisted the frontrunner be declared president, despite the partial results.

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/ 14 February 2006

Defiant Saddam tells court he’s on hunger strike

Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on Tuesday told the court trying him on charges of crimes against humanity that he and his co-defendants have launched a hunger strike. ”We have been on a hunger strike for three days,” Saddam declared as the trial resumed for its 12th hearing since its opened in October. ”Long live the great Arab nation” and ”long live the mujahideen,” he shouted.

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/ 14 February 2006

Just rewards: Britain promises Rwanda $800m

Britain has agreed to provide the Rwandan government with nearly -million over the next 10 years because it has a proven track record in fighting poverty, a British official said on Tuesday. Since the 1994 genocide that left more than 500 000 people dead, Britain and Luxembourg have been leading donors to the Rwandan government.

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/ 14 February 2006

Commodities drag JSE down

The JSE was a sea of red at noon on Tuesday after lower commodity prices sparked a widespread sell off. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the all share index by more than two to one. By noon, the all share index weakened 0,77%. Resources retreated 1,16%, with the gold and platinum mining indices dropping 3,36% and 3,04% respectively.

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/ 14 February 2006

Crashes highlight dangers of downhill skiing

It may be proclaimed as the blue riband event of alpine skiing, but a series of gruesome crashes in the women’s training has highlighted the inherent dangers of the downhill. Dressed only in a figure-hugging catsuits and helmets the skiing speed kings and queens hurtle down long, steep and icy slopes at speeds that could see you cautioned on any of the world’s motorways.