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/ 9 February 2005
News organisations covering the Michael Jackson trial are seeking an end to the secrecy surrounding key aspects of the case, including the grand-jury indictment describing the pop singer’s alleged crimes. A lawyer for The Associated Press and other news outlets will ask California’s Second District Court of Appeal to lift the gag order on attorneys in the case.
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/ 9 February 2005
After a number of accidents at its operational plants, dual-listed fuel and chemicals group Sasol on Wednesday declared safety "a top priority" for 2005. Sasol CEO Pieter Cox addressed the media in Johannesburg, saying that there is no greater priority in the company than safety. He added that the group has a zero-tolerance approach to unsafe behaviour.
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/ 9 February 2005
A five-year-old old girl was raped, murdered and her body tossed into a donga outside Matengteng, Bushbuckridge, in the Limpopo province. Police spokesperson Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe said the child went missing on February 7 after being taken from her mother, who was visiting friends, by a neighbour who promised to drop her off at home.
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/ 9 February 2005
Russia’s Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday turned down a motion of no confidence in the Cabinet of President Vladimir Putin but many legislators demonstrated their disdain for the government by boycotting the vote. Only 112 deputies of the 450-seat State Duma backed the no-confidence motion. The majority did not cast votes.
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/ 9 February 2005
Kenya is taking seriously the political message behind the United States move to suspend ,5-million in funding for anti-corruption work in the country, Minister of Justice Kiraitu Murungi said on Wednesday. The suspension came one day after Kenyan presidential anti-corruption adviser John Githongo resigned.
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/ 9 February 2005
Couples wanting to marry should be required to undergo a compulsory Aids test before the wedding ceremony, says Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi. He was speaking at a Cape Town Press Club luncheon on Wednesday. More has to be done to curb the pandemic, including declaring Aids a notifiable disease, he said.
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/ 9 February 2005
The commitment of an Afrikaans-medium school to the traditions of the ”volk” came under scrutiny in the Cape High Court on Wednesday. The governing body of Mikro Primary School in Kuilsriver is asking the court to overturn a Western Cape education department ruling that it provide an English-medium class.
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/ 9 February 2005
South African banking group Standard Bank said on Wednesday that it has placed restrictions on the accounts of a small number of customers who have failed to comply with Financial Intelligence Centre Act requirements to reidentify themselves. These customers have ignored the bank’s repeated requests to reidentify themselves
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/ 9 February 2005
The Mzansi bank account for low-income, previously unbanked people, saw 557Â 439 accounts opened by the first week in February, the Banking Council announced on Wednesday. ”Mzansi has been successful way beyond our and any other stakeholders’ expectations,” said Colin Donian, director of the Mzansi initiative.
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/ 9 February 2005
The South African government on Wednesday confirmed it was considering classifying land owners in South Africa in terms of their race and nationality, but said this was being done purely to help it gauge the pace of land reform and the extent of foreign land ownership.