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/ 15 September 2004
The value of a British woman’s handbag and its contents is a lot higher than most women — or men — realise, according to a survey by an insurance company published on Wednesday. The survey of 1 700 women found many women were shocked to find the total value of all the items in their handbags.
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/ 15 September 2004
Firefighters in Derbyshire county in central Britain have been banned from playing team sports during work breaks because they keep getting injured. The fire and rescue service said on Wednesday nearly 80 staff have been injured during volleyball and football matches in the yards of firestations over the past four years.
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/ 15 September 2004
Colonel Daouda Malam Wanke, a military commander who ruled for eight months after a 1999 coup in the West African country of Niger, died on Wednesday of cardiovascular trouble, family members said. He was 58. Wanke had been in poor health for years, suffering from high blood pressure.
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/ 15 September 2004
A young Jordanian man is facing jail after donning a veil and joining an all-female wedding party in order to win a bet, the official Petra agency reported on Wednesday. The man, identified only by his first name Salim, wore a black coat and a veil to get into the party, where female guests were dancing and singing.
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/ 15 September 2004
Black economic empowerment company Akani Leisure Investments has taken over the Halcyon Hotels Group — which includes in its portfolio the prestigious Bay hotel and Blues restaurant in Camps Bay. The acquisition represents the first major empowerment transaction at the top end of the Western Cape hospitality industry.
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/ 15 September 2004
Experts gathered in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday to draw up plans to eliminate landmines from sub-Saharan Africa, the most heavily mined region in the world. The three-day conference is expected to come up with a common stand on landmines that kill and cripple 15 000 people every year worldwide.
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/ 15 September 2004
Two more cycad species have become extinct in the past two years, data from the South African National Biodiversity Institute showed on Wednesday. This means at least three, and possibly more, of these fascinating plant species have been lost to South Africa, said John Donaldson, director of research at the institute.
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/ 15 September 2004
Ten people were admitted to Pretoria’s Unitas hospital for observation on Wednesday after coming into contact with a substance feared to be anthrax at a government department’s city-centre offices. A departmental registry clerk apparently found a dusting of powder on a bursary application received through the mail.
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/ 15 September 2004
The number of commercial farming units in South Africa decreased from about 58 000 to about 46 000 between 1993 and 2002, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. Paid employment in the sector dropped from 1 093 265 to 940 815 over the same period.
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/ 15 September 2004
One of two rebel movements engaged in peace talks with Sudan’s government, mediated by the African Union, said on Wednesday the negotiations over the Darfur region have collapsed and could be suspended for weeks. The AU-mediated talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, are a bid to end the conflict that erupted in west Sudan in 2003.