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/ 27 February 2005
The Odyssey youth centre is hidden behind an unmarked door on an anonymous site near downtown Spokane. Nothing betrays its purpose to the outside world. Inside, gay teenagers lounge on sofas, shoot pool, flirt and surf the internet. But now activists have embarked on a radical plan to create a gay business district in the heart of the city.
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/ 27 February 2005
Sunday night’s Oscar ceremony will be the most expensive privately funded bonanza of all time. The prize-giving event itself has been both remodelled and drastically cut in length in an attempt to shore up falling television ratings, but the promotional expenditure surrounding the annual awards has spiralled out of control.
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/ 27 February 2005
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas angrily accused a ”third party” on Saturday of sabotaging the Middle East peace process by orchestrating the suicide bombing on Friday night, as Israel threatened a resumption of targeted killings of militants. Syria and Islamic Jihad have been accused of being behind the bombing.
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/ 27 February 2005
Pope John Paul II will not lead Sunday prayers for the first time in his 26-year-old pontificate and will instead follow along with the traditional address from the hospital where he is recovering from a throat operation to ease a breathing crisis. Sunday’s prayer comes after the pope’s third night in hospital care.
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/ 26 February 2005
At first glance, Aaron Mokoena appears as tough as his reputation. A heavily scarred right cheek, a gold tooth with his initial engraved on it, a childhood in Boipatong where he lived through the 1992 massacre and, of course, the nickname: M’bazo — ”the Axe”. But when the South African captain turns out for Blackburn Rovers, he’s generally thinking of one person: his mum.
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/ 26 February 2005
The Jewish Board of Education this week banned gay American Rabbi Steven Greenberg from addressing students at Johannesburg’s King David High School — during the school’s ”tolerance week”. The soft-spoken Greenberg, who holds a philosophy degree, is visiting South Africa to break down anti-gay prejudice among Jews.
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/ 26 February 2005
Most people would rather handle a grenade than Wayne Rooney’s temper. Jeannie Horsfield is the anger management expert Manchester United have entrusted with the task and last week Rooney’s temperament was tested more than ever as he re-acquainted himself with Everton. He passed with flying colours.
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/ 26 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>The Treasury should not be congratulated on its R48-billion allocation to health because the R8-billion increase has not kept up with inflation or with the increase in health practitioners’ salaries, say health analysts. "You can have beautiful clinics, but if there is no one [motivated] to work in them, what is the point?"
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/ 26 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>Naledi Pandor and Lindiwe Sisulu wore broad grins during Wednesday’s Budget speech, as Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel repeatedly turned towards their seats on Parliament’s front benches to announce new funding for projects that put education and housing at the heart of the government’s social development plans.
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/ 26 February 2005
"I am 34 years old now, but eight years ago I thought I was going to die. I sell vegetables in Site C, Khayelitsha, where I make almost R1 000 per month and I would not be able to do this if I was not on ARVs [anti-retrovirals]," writes Thobani Ncatpayi. "But I am worried about these tablets being so expensive, it’s almost R1 500 [per month] for every patient."