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/ 24 February 2005
United States President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sought common ground on Thursday on keeping conventional and nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists, a positive note in talks likely to raise sensitive questions about Russia’s support of Iran and democratic rollbacks.
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/ 24 February 2005
A military court on Thursday fined and demoted two Zimbabwean army officers after one of their subordinates accidentally shot 14 spectators during a mock battle at a fair last September. They breached the Defence Act by failing to carry out ”necessary safety precautions”, including ensuring that their troops would not use live ammunition during the show.
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/ 24 February 2005
Year-on-year producer price inflation for all commodities for South African consumption (PPI) came in lower at 1,4% in January, compared with 1,9% in December, Statistics SA said on Thursday. Thus production price in January 2005 had increased by 1,4% from January 2004, but this increase was lower than the 1,9% increase from December 2003 to December 2004.
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/ 24 February 2005
The Pretoria High Court has made an order compelling the government to provide information on all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) brought into or manufactured in South Africa. The court made the order on Thursday, on the application of the environmental lobby group Biowatch.
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/ 24 February 2005
It is unlikely that Laurie Frazer will again commit conspiracy to kidnap, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Thursday. The Bloemfontein court heard argument in the case of Frazer, who made headlines in 1997 for failed attempts to get custody of his adopted child and later for plotting to kidnap the baby.
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/ 24 February 2005
At least two police officers were killed on Thursday when heavily armed militants raided the administrative headquarters of Indian Kashmir, trapping about 250 civilians who were later freed by the security forces, officials said. A paramilitary officer said ”two or more” militants had sneaked into the fortified complex of government buildings.
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/ 24 February 2005
South African President Thabo Mbeki called on the European Union on Thursday to do more to help African countries fight poverty, stressing that hunger remains a ”serious problem” for the continent. Mbeki, in Athens on a two-day official visit, said hunger, poverty and underdevelopment are the central challenges facing his country and the rest of Africa.
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/ 24 February 2005
Embattled Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia finally won approval for his Cabinet on Thursday as MPs overwhelmingly endorsed his radically overhauled line-up, which is dominated by technocrats. After he was twice forced to redraw his plans, 54 members of the legislative council voted in favour of the list.
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/ 24 February 2005
Workers in Zimbabwe are beaten, maimed and in some cases even castrated, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha said at this year’s Solidarity trade union congress on Thursday. He said there is a ”very serious problem” with the Zanu-PF ruling party calling itself a ”party of liberation” when workers are killed and beaten.
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/ 24 February 2005
Russian prosecutors on Wednesday charged a Chechen with the murder of United States journalist Paul Klebnikov, shot dead outside his Moscow offices in July last year. Klebnikov (41) was the high-profile editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, which revealed the obscure, extravagant and sometimes criminal world of the country’s most wealthy businessmen.