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/ 21 January 2004

Bird-flu fears worsen

Fears over Asia’s bird flu crisis worsened on Wednesday as worst-hit Vietnam admitted that nearly 900 000 chickens possibly exposed to the deadly virus were sold to the public, and international health experts scrambled to find a vaccine. The avian influenza ravaging poultry farms in Asia has killed five people.

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/ 21 January 2004

Desai is blackmail victim, says lawyer

Prominent South African Judge Seeraj Desai, who has been accused of raping an Aids activist during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, is a victim of blackmail, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The allegation came as the media in India and South Africa cast doubt on the case against the 53-year-old Desai.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29925">Judge Desai ‘traumatised'</a>

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/ 21 January 2004

Ten million and counting for Vodacom

Cellular telephone services provider Vodacom, in which partially privatised telecommunications giant Telkom has a 50% stake, has surpassed the 10-million customer mark. At the end of 2003 it had 10,2-million customers on its networks operated in South Africa and other African countries.

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/ 21 January 2004

Robust rand keeps JSE in check

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was weaker in noon trade on Wednesday, with a robust rand taking its toll on heavyweight dual-listed and resources stocks. A weaker Dow overnight added to the negative sentiment and decliners outnumbered advancers on the all-share index by amount two to one.

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/ 21 January 2004

Court hears evidence of ‘prostitute agent’

The Johannesburg Regional Court heard on Tuesday that Andrew Phillips, owner of the Sandton brothel The Ranch was ”turned on” by prostitutes working at the venue. According to witness Ovidio Muresan, the prostitute named Anna, whom he thought of as his girlfriend, was the most beautiful girl at The Ranch, and she made the most money.