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/ 19 October 2004

Chelsea striker admits cocaine use

Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has admitted testing positive for cocaine, the English Professional Footballers’ Association announced on Tuesday. The Romania forward’s admission means that the second ”B” sample will not be taken, and the 25-year-old could face a ban of up to two years.

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/ 19 October 2004

Family killers each sentenced to 25-years in jail

The four convicted murderers of the Van der Merwe family, two of whom were also convicted of rape, will each serve 25 years in prison, the Circuit High Court in Secunda, Mpumalanga ruled on Tuesday. Vincent Khubeka, Themba Radebe, Lucky Mbalati and Clement Makua, were all sentenced to four life terms — 240 years imprisonment — but the sentences would run concurrently.

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/ 19 October 2004

Eritrea accuses Sudan of plotting to kill president

Asmara on Monday accused the Sudanese leadership of plotting to assassinate Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki, raising the stakes in a months-long series of charges and countercharges. Already strained relations between the neighbouring states worsened considerably in 2002, when Khartoum accused Asmara of supporting an offensive by Sudanese rebels on its territory.

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/ 19 October 2004

Zarina Patel

Lecturer: School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, Wits University

Young people often complain that the government doesn’t hear their voices. Zarina used a metaphorical megaphone and she now helps make policy, besides being an educator.

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/ 18 October 2004

Just a phone’s throw away

A German has smashed the national record for the rarely contested sport of cellphone throwing by hurling his phone 67,5m, the organisers of the event announced on Monday. In the competition in Wehnde, Thuringia, on Sunday, Nico Morawa beat the former record of 65,8m, set four years by Heiko Scholl.

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/ 18 October 2004

Churches attacked in Zanzibar as tensions rise

Masked men torched a Roman Catholic church in Zanzibar over the weekend, the third such attack in a week in the predominantly Muslim Indian Ocean archipelago, a church leader said on Monday. Suspicions fell on Islamic extremists, highlighting rising Islamic militancy and growing political tensions as Zanzibar prepares elections.

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/ 18 October 2004

Another powerful typhoon heads for Japan

A powerful typhoon headed toward the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Monday, disrupting ferry service and pelting the region with heavy rain. Typhoon Tokage, the Japanese word for lizard, will be the record 10th typhoon to strike Japan this year if it makes landfall, the Meteorological Agency said.

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/ 18 October 2004

Laughing bank clerk makes robber flee

He put a mask on his face, pulled out a gun and demanded money. But when the bank clerk laughed in his face, the would-be robber was so humiliated he just ran away. The 31-year-old clerk, identified only as Martina S, ”laughed aloud” at the threat from the bandit because she knew she was protected by bulletproof glass.