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/ 14 October 2005

Would-be migrants ‘mesmerised by Europe’

While Morocco continues deporting masses of West African migrants in the face of international condemnation, a pan-African human rights group is calling on the United Nations to investigate charges of rights violations linked to border control. The Moroccan government acknowledged on Thursday that its armed forces had shot at illegal immigrants trying to scale a barrier between Africa and Europe last week.

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/ 14 October 2005

‘All should feel accommodated’

Race is rearing its ugly head in the rural Western Cape town of Vredendal, an African National Congress stronghold. There is a backlog of 8  000 houses in the Matzikama municipality and 500 families still use night soil buckets. But, rather than erupting in street protests, beefs about basic services have sparked recriminations between coloureds and Africans.

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/ 14 October 2005

Have you seen these children?

A total of 867 children were reported missing last year, more than two-thirds in Gauteng and the Western Cape, police say. But child-rights groups estimate the overall number could be as high as 1  700 a year. Not all disappearances are reported to the authorities, for a variety of reasons.

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/ 14 October 2005

Fog of war envelops Russian city

They advance slowly and carefully, hugging close to the wall of a souvenir store, communicating with hand signals in a town shrouded in heavy morning fog. Without warning, the tense quiet is shattered as the special forces unit, backed by an armoured vehicle nearby, opens fire on the store with grenades and automatic weapons.

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/ 14 October 2005

UIF bank-account deadline looms

Beneficiaries of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have been given until November 1 to put their bank accounts in order. Those who are without any accounts are running the risk of experiencing unnecessary delays in the payments of their UIF money once this deadline has lapsed.

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/ 14 October 2005

Nightmare return for Seve

Seve Ballesteros endured a nightmare return to the European Tour after a two-year absence on Thursday when he carded a six-over-par 77 in the first round of the Madrid Open. The 48-year-old Spaniard, who gave fans a taste of his old magic when he hit one shot on his knees, never recovered from a horror start.

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/ 14 October 2005

Mass graves found in eastern DRC

Human remains were discovered this week in two mass graves near Rutshuru in the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, where three similar graves were uncovered in September, a Congolese army officer said on Thursday. ”We found two new graves in the Rutshuru area, using information from local people,” said the commander of the Fifth Brigade, Colonel Jean-Marie Shekasikila.