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/ 20 January 2004

New chapter in Bushmen’s book

South Africa’s largest Bushman settlement started a new chapter in their history on Tuesday. For the first time ever, the children of Platfontein near Kimberley in the Northern Cape went to school in a proper school building. The !Xunkhwesa Combined School reopened for the new year with 1 200 pupils and 33 teachers.

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/ 20 January 2004

Swazi king weeds out the slow gardeners

Africa’s last absolute monarch, Swaziland’s King Mswati III, has deferred the re-opening of schools by a week to next Tuesday as schoolboys have not finished weeding royal fields. Acting Education Minister Themba Msibi said the objective was to allow schoolboys in royal regiments ”to complete royal duties assigned to them by the king”.

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/ 20 January 2004

Number of mountain gorillas on the increase

After years in which they were poached almost to extinction, the number of mountain gorillas in central Africa appears to be on the rise. Numbers are still critically low, but wildlife officials are delighted by the results of a recent survey that show populations of mountain gorillas have grown from 324 in 1989 to 380.

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/ 20 January 2004

Israel scrambles to defend fence

Israel is to make minor changes to the route of its ”security fence” through the occupied West Bank after lawyers warned that the present path may be indefensible in court. The move comes ahead of a high court hearing next month challenging the legality of building the vast steel and concrete barrier on Palestinian land.

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/ 20 January 2004

SABC did not contravene law, says Icasa

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) on Monday dismissed a complaint laid by several opposition political parties against the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The broadcaster drew the ire of opposition parties after it screened the launch of the ANC’s election manifesto.

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/ 20 January 2004

‘SABC is now a state broadcaster’

The Inkatha Freedom Party and the United Democratic Movement on Tuesday slammed the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s dismissal of a complaint against the SABC, which drew the ire of opposition parties after it screened the launch of the African National Congress’s election manifesto.

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/ 20 January 2004

Worldwide weirdness

Museums aren’t the frightening places you might think they are. Thanks to the Net, you can go browsing and get a taste of what culture and history really look like. Try the International Gallery of Stewardess Uniforms. Or perhaps Amish buggy plates or Belly Dancing LP Covers. Ian Fraser brings the worldwide weird to you.