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/ 28 February 2005
A dangerous humanitarian crisis is looming in the Democratic Republic of Congo with sharply increasing unrest in the Ituri region where nine United Nations soldiers were killed on Friday, the UN warned. Observers say attempts to block the disarming of local rebels could jeopardise the transitional process designed to bring peace to the vast central African state.
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/ 28 February 2005
Jef Raskin, a computer interface expert who conceived Apple Computer’s groundbreaking Macintosh computer but left the company before it came to market, has died. He was 61. Raskin died on Saturday night at his home in Pacifica, his family said in a statement.
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/ 28 February 2005
Ancient Chinese craftsmen used a secret ingredient to keep their structures standing through the centuries — sticky rice. The legend that rice porridge was used in mortar to make robust ramparts has been verified by archaeological research in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.
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/ 28 February 2005
When Sidney Lumet was awarded the lifetime achievement award at the Oscars, he was in a familiar position: Martin Scorsese’s shadow. While Scorsese’s failed bid to capture his first Academy Award was Sunday night’s primary source of drama, Sidney Lumet — the other New York director — was finally recognised.
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/ 28 February 2005
Listed mobile network MTN Group announced on Monday that it had signed a contract worth around $15-million with United Kingdom-based Intec Telecom Systems for a new customer billing system using Intec’s Singl.eView software. The new system will handle billing for the mobile group’s South African operation which has over 7,7-million subscribers.
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/ 28 February 2005
Former stand-up comic Jamie Foxx, who won the best actor Oscar on Sunday for his sizzling role in Ray, plunged into the dark world of blind soul legend Ray Charles and emerged as a Hollywood heavyweight. An emotional Foxx was greeted by a standing ovation on receiving his award, as he sang a few notes in homage to Charles.
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/ 28 February 2005
Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, which won four Oscars on Sunday, including the award for best picture, tells the story of the tragic, platonic relationship between a young woman determined to become a boxer and a grizzled trainer 30 years her senior.
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/ 28 February 2005
The Syrian government, under intense pressure from the United States and others in the international community, made its first significant concession on Sunday by handing over to the interim Iraqi government Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and former head of the Iraqi secret police, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti.
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/ 28 February 2005
Pope John Paul II made an unexpected appearance on Sunday at his hospital window, making the sign of the cross to show that he was still with the Catholic world although his recent operation means he cannot speak. The 84-year-old pontiff was in a wheelchair and wearing his white papal robes and skullcap when he appeared for less than two minutes.
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/ 28 February 2005
Mystery on Sunday night surrounded a network of offshore bank accounts in the Isle of Man and Jersey that appear to be connected with Bernard Swanepoel, the chief executive of Harmony Gold, which is at the centre of a massive mining merger in South Africa.