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/ 26 February 2005
Robbers have seized diamonds and other gems worth hundreds of millions of rands in an audacious ambush at one of Europe’s busiest airports. The gang hijacked a cargo vehicle at Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam. The van was loaded with precious stones, included a R13,3-million consignment from a London firm.
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/ 26 February 2005
Tentative hopes of reviving the Middle East peace process were jolted on Friday night when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a seafront karaoke nightclub in Tel Aviv, killing at least three people and wounding dozens. An air of palpable shock hung heavy over Israel’s second city after the first suicide bombing in Israel for almost four months.
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/ 26 February 2005
South Africa put on a ruthless and clinical display to beat Zimbabwe by 165 runs in the first Standard Bank match in front of a crowd of about 7 000 at the Wanderers on Friday. South Africa, sent in by Zimbabwe, made a formidable 301 for the loss of seven wickets in their 50 overs, with 104 runs coming off the last 10 overs.
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/ 25 February 2005
Barcelona fans may never get over their distress caused by Luis Figo’s treachery in moving to Real Madrid four seasons ago, but now they have the satisfaction of knowing that they have got their own back. Ask any Real fan whether he thinks that it was a good idea to let Samuel Eto’o join Barcelona last year and they will weep bitter tears.
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/ 25 February 2005
Like the theatre and the novel, English football is constantly in decline, someone once wrote. There are dire warnings that England are about to enter the international wilderness. Early last week, Arsenal became the first English club to name a team and five substitutes without one native-born player.
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/ 25 February 2005
The tender process for building schools is "a system designed for corruption", senior education officials say. But plans mooted by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor to short-circuit graft and waste by relieving provincial public works departments of responsibility for construction tenders have irritated national Minister of Public Works Stella Sigcau.
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/ 25 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>"We must all work together to pull the wagon through the drift," Trevor Manuel said in every official language but English on Wednesday. And he is using all the room available in the Constitution to ensure that local and provincial governments get their shoulders to the wheel. His balancing act was eased by a larger-than-expected tax overrun.
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/ 25 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has allocated the largest tranche of the Budget to the provinces — but National Treasury is to exert a much firmer grip on how provincial and local governments spend their money. A key reform introduced in this year’s budget is a change in the way social grants are funded.
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/ 25 February 2005
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is expected to spend the next six weeks on the campaign trail, mending fences with disgruntled provinces whose popular chairpersons have been suspended for attending the controversial Tsholotsho meeting to drum up support for Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failed bid for the party vice-presidency.
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/ 25 February 2005
The child-support grant was launched in 1998 to assist poor parents and caregivers of children up to the age of seven. To qualify for the grant, rural recipients must earn less than R800 a month and their urban counterparts no more than R1 100. But the social welfare system struggled to get the ball rolling amid accusations of maladministration.