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/ 26 December 2004

Asian quake toll passes 11 000

More than 11 000 people were killed and thousands more are missing after a powerful earthquake on Sunday triggered giant tidal waves that slammed into coasts across southern Asia, swallowing villages and wreaking death and devastation on seaside resorts. The quake is the fifth largest recorded to date.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=177165">Tidal waves hit Africa</a>

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/ 26 December 2004

Women lies about rape to get anti-retrovirals

A Soshanguve woman begged police not to arrest her for perjury on Saturday after she lied about being raped to get anti-retroviral treatment following unprotected sex with her boyfriend, said police. Clinic staff refused to treat her until she reported the incident to the police, said Pretoria police spokesperson, Captain Piletji Sebola.

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/ 26 December 2004

Massive quake rocks Asia

At least 500 people were killed and hundreds more were missing and feared dead on Sunday after a huge earthquake off northern Indonesia triggered giant tidal waves and flash floods across western Asia. The quake, which Indonesian seismologists said measured 6,8 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian ocean, southwest of Aceh province on Sumatra island, and unleashed massive destruction throughout the region.

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/ 26 December 2004

Tolkien spoof could be bad for your Elf

It has been described as the worst movie ever made, but a Swiss parody of the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy has been playing to packed cinemas across the country since it opened 10 days ago — and is set to become Switzerland’s biggest box-office hit of the year. The Ring Thing shamelessly draws its inspiration from Monty Python.

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/ 26 December 2004

Saturn’s first probe to land ‘with a thump or a squelch’

Space engineers sent Europe’s Huygens probe sweeping towards Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, on Saturday. Officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said they had received a signal confirming that the barbecue-sized robot craft had separated from its mother ship, the United States-built spaceship Cassini.

  • Titanic quest to end in death and glory
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    / 26 December 2004

    Thousands dead after earthquake

    The death toll from an earthquake off Indonesia on Sunday and tsunamis that it unleashed reached 7 428, with officials reporting deaths in seven countries in southern and southeastern Asia. Sri Lanka was hard hit with 3 225 people confirmed dead, 1 600 injured and many more missing, the military and Tamil Tiger rebels said.

  • Quake rocks Asia
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    / 25 December 2004

    New Cape water restrictions on hold

    A ”vital” media briefing by the City of Cape Town on new emergency water restrictions was cancelled only hours before it was set to take place on Friday morning to allow the authorities more time to consult the national department of water affairs. Water restrictions have been in place in Cape Town since October, with residents facing stiff penalties should they waste water.

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    / 25 December 2004

    Mpumalanga matric results withheld

    Amid allegations of examination fraud, Mpumalanga’s matric results are to be withheld when those of the rest of the country are announced next Wednesday, examination controlling body Umalusi said on Friday. Mpumalanga matric candidates may only know their results by the second week of next year.

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    / 25 December 2004

    Rumsfeld drops in on Iraq troops

    The United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, paid a surprise visit to US troops in Iraq on Friday, telling them the insurgency in the country could still be quashed. Rumsfeld, heavily criticised this week for using a machine to sign letters of condolence to the relatives of dead soldiers, visited forces wounded in a suicide attack in Mosul three days ago.