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/ 22 February 2005
Gauteng is becoming the safest province in the country, figures from the provincial government and some independent organisations have confirmed, the South African government news agency said on Wednesday. Gauteng community safety minister Firoz Cachalia attributed all this to the increased number of police officers in the province.
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/ 22 February 2005
Forty-three people have died and 13 others have been infected following an outbreak of pneumonic plague in the mining area of Zobia, in the region of Bas-Uele in Oriental province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an official in the ministry of health said on Monday.
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/ 22 February 2005
Ibrahim Jaafari, leader of the Dawa religious party that has links to Iran, was on Tuesday poised to become Iraq’s next prime minister after winning the support of Shi’ite leaders. The news came as Australia pledged another 450 troops to help stabilise Iraq after January elections that saw the rise to power of the long-oppressed Shi’ite majority.
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/ 22 February 2005
There is no justification for violence and irresponsible action by any student on any campus in South Africa, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday. She was commenting in the National Assembly on protest action by students on several Gauteng university campuses.
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/ 22 February 2005
More than 270 people were killed when a huge earthquake struck Iran before dawn on Tuesday, leaving distraught villagers to claw through the rubble of their homes in search of missing family and friends. Officials warned that the casualty toll could rise further as rain and blocked roads made it difficult to reach stricken mountain villages in the south-eastern province of Kerman.
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/ 22 February 2005
Protesting University of Johannesburg students stoned their leaders as they tried to call off a protest march and extend class boycotts on Tuesday. Students who had been gathering the whole morning for a march to the nearby Kingsway campus in Rossmore were angered by news of the class boycotts.
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/ 22 February 2005
Lion murder accused Simon Mathebula (43) told the Phalaborwa Circuit Court on Tuesday that he knew it was wrong to hold a man against his will. He said he was just carrying out orders when he helped tie up Nelson Chisale with an electrical extension cord.
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/ 22 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>The cost of an average pack of 20 cigarettes in South Africa is likely to experience a 52c rise in excise duty from Wednesday, when Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel unveils the government’s 2005/06 Budget, according to the Tobacco Institute of South Africa (Tisa). The retail price of a pack of cigarettes should rise by 70c.
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/ 22 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has been urged by the official opposition Democratic Alliance to focus his Budget — on Wednesday — on job creation. The DA said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that the national Budget "should be the most important job-creation tool in government’s box".
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/ 22 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>Higher-than-expected government revenue growth means Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has R14-billion to allocate when he announces the 2005/06 Budget on Wednesday, Old Mutual Asset Managers (Omam) economist Rian le Roux told a media briefing on Tuesday.