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/ 23 February 2005
Queen Elizabeth II stunned royal observers on Wednesday by announcing she would not attend her son Prince Charles’ civil wedding to his longtime companion Camilla Parker Bowles, with some declaring it a snub to an indecorous city hall ceremony.
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/ 23 February 2005
A Malaysian state plans to build new public toilets equipped with soft, background music and newspapers for people to enjoy while using the bathroom. Officials announced that ”happy and healthy toilets” would be installed in popular spots in the northeastern state of Kelantan, The Star daily reported on Wednesday.
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/ 23 February 2005
An 81-year-old Buddhist monk who mistook superglue for eyedrops has regained sight in one eye after undergoing surgery to remove the glue, The Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday. Phra Khru Prapatworakhun underwent a two-hour operation using acetone solvent to remove the glue from his right eye.
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>South Africa’s public sector capital expenditure is expected to grow at an average of 18,8% per annum over the year-year period covered by the 2005 Medium Term Expenditure Framework from an average of 11,7% a year between 2001/02 and 2004/05, the Treasury said in its Budget Review on Wednesday.
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/ 23 February 2005
United States President George Bush arrived in Germany on Wednesday to patch up relations after the deep rift over the Iraq war and chart a way forward on thorny issues such as the Iranian nuclear programme and Nato’s future.
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>The South African government has collected R11-billion more than it originally budgeted for in the 2004/05 financial year, due largely to higher-than-forecast receipts from personal income tax and value-added tax, according to South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>There was no need for further relaxation in foreign exchange controls on individuals or companies as no-one had been to the Treasury to request that the limits be raised, according to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. Currently individual limits are set at R750Â 000, while pension funds can only invest 15% of their assets outside South Africa and unit trusts are limited to 20%.
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>Eskom Holding’s planned pilot pebble-bed modular reactor got the government green light in Wednesday’s national Budget. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel said infrastructure spending by public enterprises is expected to grow strongly over the years ahead, "complemented by rising spending on public assets through public-private partnerships of various kinds".
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>South Africa’s Transport department is to receive allocations of R250-million in the 2004/05 financial year, R315-million and R320-million in the following two years "to initiate the taxi recapitalisation programme" and to support public transport services and infrastructure".
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/ 23 February 2005
The strong rand hurt foreign inbound tourism into South Africa in 2004, the South African Treasury said in its Budget Review on Wednesday. "Rand strength probably contributed to the fall in South Africa’s attractiveness as an international tourist destination from a ranking of 28th in terms of tourist arrivals in 2002 to 30th today," the Treasury said.