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/ 2 February 2005
The most prestigious unit of Norway’s military, the royal guard, has been outflanked by a wave of gastroenteritis, military officials said on Wednesday. Of the 1 000 or so soldiers tasked among other things with guarding the royal palace, no fewer than 138 were placed in quarantine for five days last week.
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/ 2 February 2005
If your horoscope is looking a bit worrying for the coming Lunar New Year, a Hong Kong company has just the thing to put it right: feng shui underpants. The lucky smalls have been designed by Yeung Tin Ming, a master of the ancient Chinese craft of spirit manipulation, or feng shui, and will ward off evil spirits and bring harmony.
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/ 2 February 2005
The official opposition has welcomed the South African Reserve Bank’s announcement that it will be changing the national payments system to create room for increased competition in South African banking. The Democratic Alliance said the move will encourage lower service charges.
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/ 2 February 2005
Vatican officials on Wednesday said Pope John Paul II was in a stable condition after the pontiff was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties. The 84-year-old pope was taken to the Gemelli hospital, in Rome, after a bout of flu suddenly worsened on Tuesday. On Tuesday night, the Vatican said he had suffered an acute attack of laryngospasm.
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/ 2 February 2005
The medieval old town of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, will be brightened up for four long winter nights this week by 10 000 lights, hoisted above the city on 500 helium-filled weather balloons. The semi-permanent art installation, called the Light Dome, will illuminate the city every night for three hours.
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/ 2 February 2005
Shares in media and entertainment group Johnnic Communications (Johncom) soared to a record high on Wednesday on continued speculation that Caxton is to make a bid for the group. By 2.57pm, Johncom shares surged 5,88% or two rand to R36, although only 5Â 000 shares had traded in one deal.
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/ 2 February 2005
Iraq’s leading Sunni Muslim clerics said on Wednesday the landmark elections lack legitimacy because large numbers of Sunnis did not participate in the balloting — which the clerics had asked them to boycott. Meanwhile, the Mosul police chief has demanded that insurgents hand over weapons within two weeks.
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/ 2 February 2005
Mpumalanga Economic Empowerment Corporation chief executive Ernest Khosa has resigned again, the province’s finance department confirmed on Wednesday. Spokesperson Thomas Nkosi said Khosa resigned on Tuesday. He resigned last week, but withdrew his resignation over the weekend.
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/ 2 February 2005
The sex crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo is not to be used as a forum to discredit the police investigation, a Pretoria High Court judge warned on Wednesday. Judge Essop Patel questioned the relevance of questions put by the defence to investigating officer Captain Carel Cornelius.
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/ 2 February 2005
Health managers in the Eastern Cape face censure and possible dismissal if they do not deal with complaints about negligence at hospitals under their care, health minister Bevan Goqwana said on Wednesday. In a statement, Goqwana warned quality assurance managers to ”pull up their socks or ship out”.