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/ 28 February 2005

Mugabe: ‘A sell-out is a sell-out’

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has blasted ruling party officials for selling secrets to foreign governments in his first reaction on an alleged espionage ring involving senior Zanu-PF members and a South African spy. The state-run Herald daily on Monday quoted the octogenarian leader as saying that nobody involved in spying would be let off the hook.

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/ 28 February 2005

Shaik denies all

Fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik completed his testimony in the Durban High Court on Monday. During his testimony, he said he had never tried to mislead the South African Revenue Service, shareholders of his companies, or banks. He has also denied state allegations that he tried to solicit a R500 000-a-year bribe for Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

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/ 28 February 2005

Carnage in Iraq car bomb

A car bombing on Monday near a medical centre in a town south of Baghdad killed 105 people in the single deadliest insurgent attack in Iraq in more than a year, hospital officials said. The blast ripped through a crowd of civil servants waiting outside a medical centre in Hilla, capital of Babil province, and left another 122 people wounded, they said.

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/ 28 February 2005

UN chief defends work in Iraq

United Nations Secretary General rejected criticism in Moscow on Monday that the UN is not doing enough to help restore order in Iraq, and offered the world body’s aid in helping the war-torn country work out a new Constitution. ”Many suggest that … the UN is not adequately represented in this country,” Annan wrote in a newspaper article.

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/ 28 February 2005

World markets lift JSE to new highs

The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) rallied to yet another record high on Monday morning, fuelled by stronger world markets. While the number of advancers and decliners on the all-share index was pretty equal, the majority of heavyweights were up, ensuring the bourse’s positive performance. By 11.56am, the all-share index was up 0,57% at 13 452,25.

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/ 28 February 2005

Northern Cook Islands pounded by cyclone

Residents of the northern Cook Islands were evacuated from their homes on Sunday as the tiny South Pacific nation was lashed by a ”near direct hit” from the fourth cyclone in the region this month, disaster authorities said. Communications with the island of Pukapuka in the northern Cook Islands were lost on Sunday morning.

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/ 28 February 2005

Last-ditch battle for white Zim farmers

Five years after Zimbabwe launched a controversial land-grab programme to redress colonial imbalances, thousands of white farmers have mounted a last-ditch battle to fight a state bid to have them legally endorsed. ”We are fighting an attempt to legitimise an illegal process,” said Mike Clark, an official of the Commercial Farmers’ Union.

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/ 28 February 2005

Daughter turns in alleged US serial killer

A 31-year hunt for a sadistic serial killer known as BTK appeared to have ended in Kansas at the weekend with the arrest of a man who was turned in by his daughter. Dennis Rader (59) a married father of two and a former church leader, was arrested in Wichita, Kansas, in connection with at least 10 murders dating back to 1974.

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/ 28 February 2005

SA’s top luxury train back on track

The world-famous Blue Train is back in full operation after one set of carriages was withdrawn in March 2003 because of fire damage, Spoornet said on Monday. ”The fire-detection system on the damaged train set has now been updated and improved with the latest technology,” Dorcas Ledwaba, manager of the Blue Train, said in a statement.

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/ 28 February 2005

Giant snowball crushes boy

A 10-year-old boy has died in Scotland after being crushed by a giant snowball rolling down a hill, police and reports said on Monday. In what appeared to be ”a tragic accident”, the schoolboy was playing with friends when a ”giant snowball” they had been making rolled down a hill and engulfed him, a police spokesperson said.