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/ 3 February 2005
World number one Lindsay Davenport and Russia’s Elena Dementieva advanced to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament with victories over Japanese opponents in Tokyo on Thursday. American top seed Davenport faced a tougher-than-expected challenge before beating Saori Obata 6-4, 6-3 in 64 minutes.
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/ 3 February 2005
South African house prices increased by 29,6% year-on-year (y/y) in January 2005 from 32,3% y/y in December 2004 and a recent peak of 35,5% y/y in October 2004, according to South African commercial bank Absa’s monthly house price index released on Thursday.
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/ 3 February 2005
The second Standard Bank one-day international between South Africa and England played in Bloemfontein on Wednesday ended in a thrilling tie which kept the capacity crowd glued to their seats right to the end. Both sides scored 270 runs in their 50 overs. England go into the third match in Port Elizabeth on Friday with a 1-0 lead.
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/ 3 February 2005
A delegation of the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions will meet members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Limpopo on Thursday. On Wednesday a Cosatu delegation were refused entry into Zimbabwe. On Thursday, the Zimbabwean Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the incident would not affect relations between the two countries.
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/ 3 February 2005
Said to be one of the 10 most expensive cars in the world, the Maybach 62 is sleek, glamorous and — some might argue — a little out of place in a country where two thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. ”The king drove up the main street of the capital in this beautiful car…” said cashier Martha Dlamini.
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/ 3 February 2005
Officials at the police watchdog body, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), are circulating sexually explicit jokes about President Thabo Mbeki on the organisation’s internal e-mail system. A senior official at the ICD said the jokes were ”grossly disrespectful” and has laid a formal complaint with the police.
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/ 3 February 2005
Pope John Paul’s condition was said on Wednesday night to have improved following a downturn in his health that left him gasping for breath and in need of urgent hospital attention. The Vatican’s chief spokesperson, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said the 84-year-old Pope had needed help with his breathing overnight and was running a slight fever.
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/ 3 February 2005
It has allegedly inspired artists and writers such as Pablo Picasso, Edgar Allen Poe and Ernest Hemingway. Vincent van Gogh is said to have cut off his ear after drinking it. But in Switzerland the liqueur that packs a special punch remained something of an embarrassment — until Wednesday.
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/ 3 February 2005
United States President George Bush on Wednesday night issued clear warnings to Syria and Iran that they were next in his sights in his declared mission to spread democracy around the world. The State of the Union address to Congress had been billed as reconciliatory, but there were some blunt words.
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/ 3 February 2005
The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is braced on Thursday for the publication of an interim report on the alleged mismanagement of the -billion oil-for-food programme for Iraq. An inquiry headed by the former United States Federal Reserve chairperson Paul Volcker is investigating claims of fraud and corruption by UN officials.