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/ 18 February 2005

Skills supremo suspended

Well-known former trade unionist and skills development specialist Adrienne Bird has been suspended as Deputy Director General in the Department of Labour, in a development that has been linked to the poor performance of the sector education and training authorities (Setas). Bird confirmed her suspension to the Mail & Guardian this week, but refused to comment further.

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/ 18 February 2005

Boro in sight of Uefa Cup last 16

Dutch duo Boudewijn Zenden and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored the goals to give Middlesbrough a 2-2 draw at GAK in Graz on Thursday and put the English side in sight of the last 16 of the Uefa Cup. The Austrians were playing their first match in two months because of their winter break.

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/ 18 February 2005

Afghanistan’s children freeze to death

Aid workers in Afghanistan said on Friday they feared up to 1 000 children may have died from cold and malnutrition during severe winter weather affecting the west of the war-shattered country. Western Ghor province has been hit hard by snowstorms in Afghanistan’s worst winter for more than a decade and most of the province remains out of reach of humanitarian aid.

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/ 18 February 2005

IOC visits London to evaluate Olympic bid

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) got an overhead view of the planned central area for the 2012 Olympics on Thursday. From a specially constructed viewing platform on the 22nd floor of a retirement home, the IOC’s evaluation commission viewed the 200ha proposed Olympic Park in Stratford, a largely run-down area of East London.

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/ 18 February 2005

Man United will win the double … right?

Look, just for the sake of an argument, Manchester United are going to win the double. No, they aren’t. Yes, they are. I’ve told you once, no, you haven’t. Strange-condition schizophrenia, but football is rife with it. We all know Chelsea are an uncatchable nine points clear of Alex Ferguson’s revived United and two points further ahead of Arsenal.

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/ 18 February 2005

Get ready for the Champions League

Champions League action starts next week and the draw for the last 16 has thrown up some mouth-watering encounters. For the first time in a long time, it is English clubs that are the best represented, with Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all qualifying for this, the first knock-out round.

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/ 18 February 2005

Super 12: Is SA too well prepared?

By the time the Super 12 starts in earnest next week, there is a distinct possibility that some South African franchises may already be battling fatigue. The Stormers, for instance, have been playing warm-up games for three weeks in places as far apart as the Boland, Dubai and England.

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/ 18 February 2005

How Sasol firm sold WMD chemicals to Iran

A Sasol group company, African Amines, has illegally exported chemicals to Iran that could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons. This emerges from a plea bargain agreement in the Durban Regional Court, struck last November, which appears to have saved the multibillion-rand petrochemical company from international embarrassment.

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/ 18 February 2005

Government plans new clamps on judges

The government is planning a radical overhaul of the governance and administration of the courts, on the grounds that existing oversight mechanisms have failed to achieve thorough transformation. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla announced this week that a ”concept paper” on the transformation of the judicial system will be tabled before Cabinet.