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/ 16 January 2006
A Maori cultural performer who head-butted a Dutch tourist during a traditional indigenous welcome was on Monday ordered to do 150 hours of community work. Richard Minarapa Mitai-Ngatai (40) pleaded guilty last month to assaulting Dutch tourist Johannes Scheffers, because he thought Scheffers was laughing at the ceremony.
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/ 16 January 2006
Ariel Sharon blinked his eyes on Monday as a tape of his grandson was being played, but medics treating Israel’s coma-stricken premier said it is too early to assess the significance of the development. Meanwhile, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was officially named interim chairperson of Sharon’s Kadima party on Monday.
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/ 16 January 2006
A fire broke out in an office building in the Russian Pacific coast city of Vladivostok on Monday, killing nine people and injuring at least 15 others as trapped victims jumped from windows to escape the smoke and flames. Officials said that some stairwells in the building were blocked by gates, hampering rescue efforts.
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/ 16 January 2006
When researching the now famous Rusconi report, actuary Rob Rusconi had no idea what his findings would show — and he certainly never envisaged the furore that would follow. In 2003, he spent six months conducting detailed analyses of the life and pension industries in South Africa, and his findings shocked industry and the government.
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/ 16 January 2006
Scores of river-dwelling hippos are dying in Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara National Reserve due to a searing drought that threatens the country’s renowned wildlife and has put millions of people across East Africa at risk of famine, officials and witnesses said on Monday.
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/ 16 January 2006
Seventy percent of young people feel there is no good reason to vote in the upcoming municipal elections, a survey revealed on Monday. Cynicism and ambivalence among potential voters suggests voter turnout could be as low as 41%, compared with an average of 48% in the last two local elections, the survey found.
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/ 16 January 2006
Political tensions in Swaziland are on the rise following the arrest of 15 pro-democracy campaigners in recent weeks over petrol-bomb attacks that were made on courthouses and the homes of various officials last year. The activists belong to the banned People’s United Democratic Movement.
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/ 16 January 2006
The Free State Eagles entrenched their status as one of the country’s premier cricket teams when they defeated the Titans in a low-scoring thriller in the Standard Bank Cup final last week. ”We’ve been a bit lucky so far; we don’t want to be seen as a conceited bunch,” said Eagles coach Corrie van Zyl on Monday.
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/ 16 January 2006
The spot price of platinum on Monday equalled its all-time high of $1 047 an ounce set in March 1980, on Tokyo Commodity Exchange buying of the metal as well as the strong rand, which broke below R6 to the dollar, analysts said. At 12.55pm, platinum was quoted at $1 042/oz, up $6,50/oz from its previous close.
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/ 16 January 2006
A hyped-up and relieved Serena Williams said she felt like dancing on Monday after keeping her Australian Open defence on track with a testing three set win over China’s Li Na. Responding to criticism of her fitness in the lead up to the tournament, Williams insisted she was full of energy after surviving a scare to grind down the fiesty Li 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2.