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/ 21 September 2005
Powerful Hurricane Rita was upgraded to a category-four storm early on Wednesday as it roared into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico, packing winds of 217kph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. The centre added that ”some additional strengthening is possible during the next 24 hours”.
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/ 21 September 2005
Against a backdrop of sound growth, financial-services group RMB Holdings lifted headline earnings by 30% from R2,1-billion to R2,8-billion for the year to the end of June. This translated into headline earnings per share of 234,9 cents, compared with 180,6 cents for the previous year.
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/ 21 September 2005
Roads leading in and out of Mpumalanga’s Moutse area were reopened on Wednesday following a protest over demarcations, police said. Earlier, residents of Moutse threatened to set the local magistrate’s court alight if people arrested on charges of public violence on Tuesday were not released from custody.
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/ 21 September 2005
European Union diplomats hammered out a new accord on Turkey on Wednesday, overcoming last-minute objections from Cyprus, but the bloc is still battling to clear the way for membership talks with Ankara next month. While progress was made, clear strains remained over whether the vast Muslim state can ever join the bloc, with Austria notably demanding that Turkey be offered an alternative to EU entry.
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/ 21 September 2005
Nigerian separatist militants warned foreign workers to flee the Niger Delta on Wednesday as they threatened to retaliate for the arrest of their leader by attacking oil wells and pipelines. The leader of the banned Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari, was ”invited for questioning” in Abuja on Tuesday.
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/ 21 September 2005
Two-thirds of Swedes secretly read their partner’s cellphone SMSs, in particular when he or she nips off to the loo, a study published on Wednesday showed. Sixty-four percent of those questioned by mobile portal Halebop for Swedish operator TeliaSonera said they read their partners’ SMSs purely out of curiosity.
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/ 21 September 2005
With the excitement mounting ahead of Ireland’s Gaelic football final this weekend, one man has enlisted some extra supporters to back his favourite team — the animals on his farm. He has painted 30 ducks, 10 sheep, two cows, three goats and several geese in Kerry’s green-and-gold colours.
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/ 21 September 2005
West Indian cricketing legend Brian Lara on Tuesday met another hero, former South African president Nelson Mandela.
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/ 21 September 2005
The South African Police Service announced downward trends in 17 of the country’s most serious crime categories on Wednesday. Murder dropped by 5,6% in 2004 and 2005 from the previous financial year, attempted murder by 1,8% and serious assault by 4,5%, it announced in Pretoria.
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/ 21 September 2005
Six police officers at the Booysens police station in southern Johannesburg have been arrested on charges of corruption and assault, police said on Wednesday. This follows a recent television exposé.