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/ 2 December 2004
The winds of change are sweeping through southern Africa, with the long-term leaders of both Namibia and Mozambique preparing to hand over to their successors after more than a 15 years at the helm. However, both departing heads of state are assured of living out their autumn years in style thanks to perk-packed retirement deals.
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/ 2 December 2004
The Zimbabwean government is seeking leave to appeal the acquittal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, a newspaper reported on Thursday. In October, the Harare High Court acquitted Tsvangirai of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe and stage a coup, saying there was insufficient evidence against him.
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/ 2 December 2004
As Mozambique calmly voted on a second and final day on Thursday for a new president and parliament, foreign observers and voters said the strength of its maturing democracy will be measured by the transparency of the count – and the reaction to the outcome. With 17 parties running for Parliament and five contesting the presidential race, many here believe the county is moving toward a presidential runoff next month.
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/ 2 December 2004
How’s this for creative thinking? A cafe has opened with pyjama-clad servers pouring cereal day and night, topping it off with everything from fruit to malted milk balls, and serving it in ”bowls” resembling Chinese takeout containers. Behind glass-door kitchen-style cabinets at Cereality are 30 varieties of brand-name cold cereal.
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/ 2 December 2004
Swarms of locusts have invaded the Portuguese Argave region, one of Europe’s top tourist areas and home to some of the country’s most beautiful beaches. The locusts are the same species that recently swept across Spain’s Canary Islands, according to an expert at Lisbon’s Faculty of Science.
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/ 2 December 2004
Growth in new vehicle sales continued unabated with sales in November showing a 32,1% increase over sales during the same month in 2003. A total of 41 663 vehicles were sold during November, which brings the year’s sales to date to 413 639 units.
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/ 2 December 2004
More than 900 people are confirmed dead or missing in the eastern Philippines after two tropical storms triggered floods and mudslides this week. The worst-affected towns on the east coast of the main island, Luzon, are cut off from help because of destroyed roads and bridges. Aid flights have been suspended due to a third typhoon expected to hit Luzon on Thursday.
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/ 2 December 2004
Shopkeepers in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton are mortified by the arrival of a funeral parlour in their rundown shopping mall that they have been trying to revitalise for years, a newspaper reported on Thursday. Roger Hunt of the local business association said the opening of the Starlight parlour in a former toy shop gave new meaning to the ”dead heart” of New Brighton.
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/ 2 December 2004
A Japanese city council will require male employees to take a total of six weeks of paid leave before their babies’ first birthdays and then explain what they learned in a bid to end perceptions that child care is only a woman’s job, officials said on Thursday.
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/ 2 December 2004
International concern was growing on Thursday after Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced that his country’s troops will launch an operation in pursuit of Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In a letter to the African Union, Kagame wrote that he hoped the operation would not last longer than two weeks and that it would target only the rebels.