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/ 27 January 2005
Portugal’s national election commission on Wednesday called for a probe into the appearance of round red stickers on the noses of party leaders on election billboards. The large stickers, which resemble the bright noses worn by clowns, first appeared in Lisbon last week but became especially prominent over the weekend.
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/ 27 January 2005
Leaders of the African Union’s 53 member states meet next week in Abuja amid growing demands from the continent’s trouble spots that far surpass the organisation’s limited financial resources. From funding its Ethiopian headquarters and managing its South Africa-based Parliament to current and planned military deployments, the two-year-old AU is already in the red.
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/ 27 January 2005
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) extended its winning streak into a second day on Thursday, with firmer United States markets overnight and better-than-expected producer inflation (PPI) data released at 11.30am boosting sentiment. By 12.06pm, the all-share index added 0,64% and the all-share industrial index strengthened 0,69%.
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/ 27 January 2005
South African producer prices for all commodities rose by 1,9% in the 12 months to the end of December, from a 2,5% increase for the 12 months to the end of November, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. On the month, the producer price index (PPI) was down by 0,5% compared with November’s 0,2% monthly rise.
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/ 27 January 2005
The Israeli military is to disband some religious army units amid growing resistance among soldiers to removing Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip later this year. In recent weeks, the military has dismissed dozens of reserve officers who publicly called on soldiers to rebel.
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/ 27 January 2005
The spectre of the violence surrounding the G8 meeting in Genoa four years ago will return to haunt Italy on Thursday when 47 people, including senior police officers, doctors, nurses and prison guards, go before a judge, accused of violently mistreating arrested demonstrators.
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/ 27 January 2005
It is perhaps not the best omen for United States foreign affairs. Historians in Wexford, Ireland, have discovered that US President George Bush is a descendant of Strongbow, the power-hungry warlord who led the Norman invasion of Ireland thus heralding 800 years of mutual misery.
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/ 27 January 2005
An opposition lawmaker in Zimbabwe was released without charges on Wednesday, a day after he was arrested for allegedly inciting violence in the run-up to the March elections, his lawyer said. Nelson Chamisa was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly making an incendiary speech.
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/ 27 January 2005
”What is it with keyboards? For a long time they were the afterthought, the rather insignificant but necessary twiffle that transformed the beige box into a machine that could actually do something. For most first-time computer buyers, the keyboard barely gets a look-in on the specs front. I’m the exception. And this week, my keyboard really had its time in the sun,” says gadget fanatic Tony Lankester.
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/ 27 January 2005
Former world number one Serena Williams fought back from the brink of defeat to beat teenage prodigy Maria Sharapova and reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday. The seventh-seeded six-time grand slam title winner now faces either top seed Lindsay Davenport or French 19th seed Nathalie Dechy in Saturday’s final.