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/ 28 February 2005
Israel looked set on Monday for a U-turn by deciding not to destroy the homes of settlers due to be uprooted from Gaza, as a special unit was established to combat extremist violence threatening the pull-out. Meanwhile, in the fallout from Friday’s suicide attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli officials briefed European Union ambassadors on Syria’s alleged involvement.
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/ 28 February 2005
Councillors of a western Polish village were to decide on Monday whether to allow controversial German scientist Guenther von Hagen to set up a laboratory for preparing human corpses for public display. Von Hagen Bodyworld exhibition of plasticised corpses has been shown amid heavy public debate across Europe and the world.
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/ 28 February 2005
The National Party withdrew from the government of national unity (GNU) when the African National Congress refused to establish a consultative council to deal with minority concerns. This is according to former president FW de Klerk, who on Monday addressed the Cape Town Press Club on the role of minorities in post-1994 South Africa.
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/ 28 February 2005
A former patient at Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria was arrested on Monday after forcing his way into the facility wielding an axe. ”The man, who was a former patient, came here holding a home-made axe and threatened security guards at the front gate,” said Weskoppies hospital’s chief executive.
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/ 28 February 2005
The massive growth in property prices is now tapering off, leaving the property market at risk of over-trading, property specialists warned on Monday. House prices have risen by 147% since the first quarter in 2000. ”This type of growth is not sustainable,” said a group executive at eQuals, a player in the property market, in a statement.
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/ 28 February 2005
The money set aside to help poor families cope with food price rises has doubled since 2002, Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya said on Monday. He said the money — R400-million, up from R200-million — has been received by the provinces, but ”a lot of problems had since arisen”.
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/ 28 February 2005
Burundians lined up on Monday to vote on a Constitution that enshrines Hutu control of Parliament and the government after decades of minority Tutsi dominance. The referendum will determine the fate of a Constitution that reserves 60% of seats in the government and Parliament for Hutus and 40% for Tutsis.
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/ 28 February 2005
Senior prosecutor Billy Downer on Monday tried to prove to the Durban High Court that Schabir Shaik was a dishonest person flaunting qualifications he did not possess. He was cross-examining Shaik after the fraud and corruption-accused completed a week of testimony in his defence before the lunch break.
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/ 28 February 2005
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has blasted ruling party officials for selling secrets to foreign governments in his first reaction on an alleged espionage ring involving senior Zanu-PF members and a South African spy. The state-run Herald daily on Monday quoted the octogenarian leader as saying that nobody involved in spying would be let off the hook.
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/ 28 February 2005
Fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik completed his testimony in the Durban High Court on Monday. During his testimony, he said he had never tried to mislead the South African Revenue Service, shareholders of his companies, or banks. He has also denied state allegations that he tried to solicit a R500 000-a-year bribe for Deputy President Jacob Zuma.