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/ 14 February 2006
United States comedians and satirists have seized upon Vice-President Dick Cheney’s quail hunting accident, in which he fired shotgun pellets at a lawyer friend Harry Whittington. David Letterman on his talk show said: "Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction: it’s Dick Cheney."
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/ 14 February 2006
Iran said on Tuesday that the fatwa or religious edict condemning British author Salman Rushdie to death over his novel <i>The Satanic Verses</i> will remain in force forever. The announcement was made on the anniversary of the 1989 edict issued by the leader of Iran’s Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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/ 14 February 2006
Young Saudis defied on Tuesday the ultra-conservative kingdom’s ban on Valentine’s Day celebrations to exchange sweets, red teddy bears, greeting cards, roses and even kisses. On the night before Valentine’s young men and women strolled up and down the Tahliya shopping avenue in the western city of Jeddah, browsing at heart-shaped chocolate boxes and the red lingerie.
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/ 14 February 2006
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
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 350Â 000 state-employed teachers in public schools.
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/ 14 February 2006
Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya says that last week’s article "Oilgate: Did Majali try to bribe Skweyiya?" excluded important information he provided to the newspaper. We publish his full responses to reporter Sam Sole’s questions.
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/ 14 February 2006
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
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
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
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.