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/ 27 February 2004

Monster mania

”For all Monster‘s flaws, Charlize Theron’s performance can’t be faulted. It is richly detailed and upsetting, and manages to retain the audience’s sympathy despite the gruesome killings.” Hollywood reporter John Patterson is more moved by the documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos than the new film about her life.

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/ 27 February 2004

‘Give us hope’

”All across the country, artists were huddled around their hire-purchased television sets, holding their breaths, their thumbs and the ”final warning” letters from their bank managers. Some musicians were shamelessly plagiarising Eddie Grant as they waited. ‘Give us hope, dear Trevor, Help us cope, please Trevor, Give us rope, ou Trevor, when the Budget comes”’, writes Mike van Graan.

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/ 27 February 2004

New Chinese measures for ‘managing’ internet

China’s cultural minister has called for tighter controls on the internet, including 24-hour surveillance and urging people to tell on each other, state media said on Friday. China is second only to the US for the number of people online. The number of users rose to 79,5-million by December 2003 from 59,1-million in December 2002.

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/ 27 February 2004

Scorpions probe corruption at SAA

The Scorpions conducted raids at 11 residences and business premises of employees of South African Airways technical services in a bid to root out alleged corruption at the unit on Friday, the airline said. Some of the raids were conducted at the purchasing department of SAA technical services at the request of the SAA, the airline said.

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/ 27 February 2004

Gadaffi calls for unity at opening of summit

Leaders and officials from more than 50 African states convened a summit on Friday aimed to discuss security strategies for a trouble-plagued continent, with Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi urging Africans to unite if they want to be strong and influential in the world.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=31846">Cold water on Gadaffi’s big idea</a>

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/ 27 February 2004

Govt spent R45m on Congolese dialogue

The South African government donated a total of R45-million to the Office of the Facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, Sir Ketumile Masire, says South African President Thabo Mbeki. The presidency said that the Office of the Facilitator received money "from many donors in the international community".

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/ 27 February 2004

JSE rises in thin trade

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was firmer in noon trade on Friday, helped by strong performances by heavyweight dual-listed stocks offshore and general positive sentiment. However, volumes were very light — just more than R600-million-worth of shares had changed hands.

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/ 27 February 2004

Two dinosaurs fossils found in Antarctica

Researchers probing mountains and ancient seas in Antarctica have discovered two previously unknown types of dinosaurs, the National Science Foundation reported. The fossilised remains, thousands of kilometres from each other, were found less than a week apart on the frozen continent that once had a far warmer climate.