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/ 16 February 2006
South African newspaper publisher Caxton on Wednesday reported diluted headline earnings per share of 59,2 cents for the six months ended December 2005 from 53,5 cents a year ago. Headline earnings per share came in at 59,8 cents from 54,2 cents before.
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/ 16 February 2006
The People’s Budget coalition on Wednesday praised Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel’s 2006 Budget, saying it promises real benefits for the poor. The coalition said it appreciates efforts to increase spending on services that, according to the coalition, have experienced very slow growth in the past 10 years.
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/ 16 February 2006
A group of Khutsong residents declared the township a no-go area for the African National Congress during a protest march on Wednesday. ”We are tired of the ANC. Other political parties are welcome to campaign, but not the ANC,” said Elisa Bogatsa as residents protested the transfer of the Merafong municipality from Gauteng to the North West.
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/ 16 February 2006
Zimbabwe has cleared its arrears to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Harare’s Herald newspaper reported on Thursday. Its website said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe paid the outstanding -million on Wednesday to settle its overdue obligations in the general resources account.
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/ 16 February 2006
The Mexican government has admitted to staging a dramatic kidnap rescue for the benefit of a prime-time television audience. The raid, in which Mexico’s equivalent of the FBI burst into a farmhouse at dawn to subjugate four alleged kidnappers, had been presented by the government as proof that it was winning the battle against organised crime.
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/ 16 February 2006
Kaizer Chiefs’ championship hopes were given a much-needed boost when they delivered a clinical 1-0 victory over Premier Soccer League log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night. Sundowns became their own worst enemy as they failed to make good use of their opportunities.
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/ 16 February 2006
The Bush administration made an emergency request to Congress on Wednesday for a seven-fold increase in funding to mount the biggest propaganda campaign to date against the Tehran government, in a further sign of the worsening crisis between Iran and the West. The request is to be accompanied by a diplomatic drive to discuss Tehran’s suspect nuclear weapons programme.
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/ 16 February 2006
Shares in petrochemicals group Sasol slumped 8,3% on Wednesday, following Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s unveiling of an investigation into a windfall tax. Sasol shares were trading at R227,50 shortly before the Budget speech but then fell to R209.
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/ 16 February 2006
In more comment on the national Budget for 2006/07, the South African Communist Party is pleased that company tax was not cut, though the African Christian Democratic Party disagrees; Absa says the Budget is good for the property market; and an economist says the Budget is "on balance good".
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/ 16 February 2006
In the Medium Term Expenditure Framework delivered in October last year, Trevor Manuel announced that projections for the budget deficit over the next three years would be substantially lowered from about 3% to about 2%. In Wednesday’s Budget he reduced this even further to 1,5% for next year, falling to 1,2% by fiscal year 2008/09.