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/ 20 January 2004

Israel border tension high after attack

Tensions ran high on Israel’s northern border on Tuesday after the army threatened retaliation for a Hezbollah attack that killed one soldier and wounded another, despite suggestions they might have strayed into Lebanese territory. Defence sources said the army was considering a retaliatory strike deep inside Lebanon.

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/ 20 January 2004

China clams up on bird flu origins

Health authorities in China are refusing to disclose the origins of an avian influenza (bird flu) virus that can be lethal when transmitted to humans, a South African medical official said on Tuesday. The virus could be the source of the flu that is suspected of having caused 13 deaths in Vietnam since the beginning of the year.

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/ 20 January 2004

Ngcuka ‘probably never’ was a spy

National prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka ”probably never” acted as an agent for the apartheid government, the Hefer Commission of Inquiry has found. ”I have come to the conclusion that he probably never at any time before 1994 acted as an agent for a state security agency,” retired judge Joos Hefer said in his final report, made public on Tuesday.

  • Hefer report critical of Zuma response
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    / 20 January 2004

    Good news on Zim inflation — or is it?

    Zimbabwe’s year-on-year rate of inflation fell 21% to 599% in December, the first decline in the country’s skyrocketing cost of living in 18 months, according to official figures released in Harare on Tuesday. The reported trend surprised economists, with some even suspecting ‘doctoring’ of the figures.

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    / 20 January 2004

    New commerce chamber announces CEO

    The newly formed Chambers of Commerce and Industry of South Africa (Chamsa) on Tuesday appointed Sipho Mseleku as the new CEO of the body. Chamsa is a constituent member of Business Unity South Africa, which is the new national body replacing the former Black Business Council and Business South Africa.