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/ 26 January 2006
The result in a knife-edge Palestinian election is expected to be announced on Thursday amid forecasts that the Islamists of Hamas have deprived the ruling Fatah faction of its majority. Exit polls released late on Wednesday showed Hamas would make a dramatic entry into Parliament, if falling just short of usurping Fatah.
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/ 26 January 2006
Franz Seitz, one of Germany’s most prolific film producers, has died at the age of 84, his son said on Tuesday. Seitz produced about 80 films, including <i>The Tin Drum</i>, an adaptation of the novel by Nobel laureate Guenter Grass that in 1980 became the first German picture to win an Oscar for best foreign film.
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/ 26 January 2006
South African trade union Solidarity on Wednesday launched an initiative aimed at addressing the lack of skills in South Africa’s labour market. The union’s general secretary, Flip Buys, addressed the launch of Sol-Tech, the union’s initiative that also aims to assist enterprises with the implementation of their skills-development programmes.
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/ 26 January 2006
The spot price of platinum on Wednesday climbed to an all-time high of $1 060,50 an ounce on fund-buying of the metal, analysts said. Fund interest was largely based on platinum’s more constructive fundamentals, relatively low inventories and the strong upward momentum, analysts said.
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/ 26 January 2006
Bakkies such as the Opel Corsa and Nissan 1400 sell only in South Africa, Brazil and … well, that’s about it. As a result, Ford, General Motors and Nissan have pretty well had the field to themselves for decades in South Africa. Then, last year, Fiat introduced its Strada pickup, and Proton’s newly launched Arena light pickup has now arrived to wee on the South African manufacturers’ batteries.
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/ 26 January 2006
Nuclear power, the long-time foe of the environmental movement, is returning to favour in many countries where issues of energy dependency and the rising cost of fossil fuels are driving policy changes. On Monday, Britain announced a public consultation on its future energy supplies, raising the spectre of a return to nuclear power.
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/ 26 January 2006
European Union external relations commissioner Benita Ferreo-Waldner said on Thursday the European Commission was ”rather sceptical” about a warm reception Tehran has given to a Russian proposal for Iran to conduct sensitive nuclear work abroad.
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/ 26 January 2006
Kim Clijsters hoped to celebrate her new world number one ranking with a place in the Australian Open final. Instead she hobbled from Melbourne Park on crutches bemoaning the low point of her career. After coaxing her battered body to take her as far as the final four of the tournament, second seed Clijsters finally succumbed to injury in Thursday’s semifinal with Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.
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/ 26 January 2006
With horns blaring, hundreds of Hamas supporters on Thursday took to the streets in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza to celebrate their party’s election victory. Truckloads of supporters waving the party’s green flags drove through the Islamist stronghold with some militants firing in the air in celebration.
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