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/ 10 November 2004
An English duchess has received official permission to grow cannabis plants, opium poppies and hallucinogenic mushrooms as part of a poison garden in the grounds of her stately home, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday. The British Home Office said the licence is ”extremely rare”.
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/ 10 November 2004
A Romanian judge on Wednesday resigned after being accused of starring in an X-rated video, officials said. Simona Lungu (36), a judge at the Bucharest Tribunal, was investigated by judicial authorities over allegations that she acted in an adult video that was sold in Denmark.
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/ 10 November 2004
Senior Democratic Alliance politician Kent Morkel has been accused of taking a bribe in a multimillion-rand corruption case that came before the Cape High Court on Wednesday. In a plea-bargain agreement, micro-loan provider Gilt Edged Management Services consented to fines totalling R5-million on two counts of corruption.
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/ 10 November 2004
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has called the prophet Muhammad a ”lecherous tyrant” and the Qur’an ”in part a licence for oppression”. Hirsi Ali says she is ”very much afraid”, suspecting that her film, Submission, was the direct cause of the death Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh last week. Jon Henley reports.
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/ 10 November 2004
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday asked whether members of a black empowerment consortium have used their official positions to obtain a deal with Telkom. The consortium, linked to the ruling African National Congress, is to buy a 15,1% share in Telkom worth more than R6,5-billion.
Banks will finance Telkom deal
Deal is ‘crony capitalism’
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/ 10 November 2004
The controversial new medicine regulations will come under the spotlight at the Constitutional Court on Thursday as dispensing doctors challenge sections that force them to register and complete new dispensing courses. Various aspects of the regulations have been rejected by health practitioners and pharmacists.
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/ 10 November 2004
A 77-year-old woman in the Swiss city of Lausanne who illegally fed pigeons starved by Switzerland’s legendary cleanliness has been fined 8 000 Swiss francs (about R42 000), a local newspaper reported on Wednesday. ”The street sweepers do their job so well that the birds can’t find anything to eat,” she told a magistrate’s court.
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/ 10 November 2004
A parliamentary committee has recommended South Africa’s free basic water (FBW) policy be ”re-determined” to exclude those who can afford to pay for their water supply. The FBW policy currently provides, free of charge, 6 000 litres of water per household per month to more than two-thirds of South Africa’s population.
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/ 10 November 2004
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Wednesday underlined his longstanding rejection of a demarcation line set in 2003 for his country’s border with Eritrea — but stressed he was ruling out any return to war. ”The bottom line for us is that this dispute must be resolved by peaceful means,” said Zenawi.
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/ 10 November 2004
Côte d’Ivoire opposition group leaders will arrive in Pretoria on Thursday for a second stage of talks to resolve the crisis in that country, news reports said on Wednesday. Clashes between the government, rebels and the French military shattered an 18-month-old ceasefire this week, and killed at least 145 people.
Foreigners, citizens flee violence