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/ 29 October 2004
European Union leaders on Friday signed a first-ever Constitution for the expanding bloc, in a landmark ceremony on the spot in Rome where its forerunner was founded nearly half a century ago. The Constitution, agreed in June after two years of haggling, aims to streamline EU institutions and prevent decision-making gridlock.
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/ 29 October 2004
Batswana will vote on Saturday in the eighth general election since their country ceased to be a British protectorate in 1966. Opposition parties are fighting not to win — they have conceded that is not possible — but to unify a fragmented opposition that they hope will strengthen over the life of the next Parliament.
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/ 29 October 2004
Monday could be blue for ”high risk” banking clients who have failed to verify their identities with their banks under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. Banks have until Sunday to re-identify non-resident account holders, trusts and partnerships — or freeze their accounts until they present themselves with proof of their addresses.
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/ 29 October 2004
Local business and labour have welcomed the almost doubling of production for the East London-built new C-Class Mercedes Benz. DaimlerChrysler chairperson Christoph Kopke said this week that the East London plant would be producing around 80 000 of the new C-Class from 2007 — up from the 45 000 a year for the current W203 model.
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/ 29 October 2004
Iraq’s prime minister will send a team to rebel-held Fallujah to discuss clearing the city of insurgents and heavy weapons in a last-ditch bid to avert a full-scale military assault, officials said on Friday. The comments came as about 1 000 United States and Iraqi troops, who have encircled the city, said they are prepared for action.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=124567">Study: 100 000 Iraqi civilians dead</a>
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/ 29 October 2004
It is near Gospel in government circles that the tough macro-economic policy choices embodied in the growth, employment and redistribution (Gear) strategy have purchased space for a sustainable expansion in government spending. But the limits to that particular line of credit are now starting to show themselves. Financial Minister Trevor Manuel’s balancing act just gets harder.
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/ 29 October 2004
The pebble bed modular reactor, Eskom’s controversial nuclear electricity generation programme, has received a R500-million rescue package from the government after failing to attract a strategic foreign partner. According to the Department of Trade and Industry vote in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, the amount was an unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure.
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/ 29 October 2004
The African National Congress’s lack of policy clarity and direction on how to approach the Zimbabwean crisis has placed it in an awkward position with its alliance partner, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said on Thursday. The uling party has failed to back its union ally after expulsion, vitriolic attack by Zimbabwe government.
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/ 29 October 2004
Anti-corruption investigators in the Eastern Cape are probing evidence that the mansion of provincial agriculture minister Max Mamase is being financed by the citrus farmer who landed a controversial R16-million empowerment deal from his department.
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/ 29 October 2004
A prominent white opposition lawmaker was jailed for a year on Thursday for allegedly assaulting two ministers in Parliament during a debate earlier this year over the seizures of white-owned farms by the government. The Parliament voted 53 to 42 ballots for the immediate imprisonment of Roy Bennett, a lawmaker of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Zim MP arrested at airport