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/ 25 October 2004
Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has won re-election for a fourth term by an overwhelming margin in a vote denounced as ”surreal” and an insult to democracy by several opposition leaders. According to final figures announced by the Interior Ministry on Monday, Ben Ali garnered 94,48% of the weekend vote.
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/ 25 October 2004
Gold was fixed in London on Monday afternoon at $429,15 a troy ounce, the highest afternoon fix for the metal since September 9 1988, according to the London Bullion Market Association website. At 4.35pm, gold was quoted at $428,65 a troy ounce from a New York close of $424,33/oz.
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/ 25 October 2004
A theory that birds may have had four wings during a stage of their evolution has been given fresh support with the discovery of a new fossil in China. The so-far unnamed creature, which lived between 124-million and 145-million years ago, belonged to an extinct group of primitive flying birds called the enantiornithines.
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/ 25 October 2004
Zimbabwe’s state broadcaster has denied its news department, a key propaganda arm of the government, is unable to pay its journalists and faces bankruptcy, state radio reported on Monday. The troubled state broadcaster has acknowledged in recent months that it is facing financial problems.
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/ 25 October 2004
A self-confessed Boeremag coup plotter told the Pretoria High Court on Monday he felt ”uncomfortable” with plans to annihilate the ”enemy”, who had been identified as all blacks, coloureds and Indians. He said the Boeremag had plans to shoot holes into electricity transformers, causing them to blow up and leave people without electricity.
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/ 25 October 2004
The launch of France’s first gay television channel, Pink TV, on Monday has been touted as a big step for television and a new era for homosexuality in this largely Roman Catholic country. The channel is ”a giant leap for television, a small step in high heels”, presenter Eric Gueho says in a promotional clip.
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/ 25 October 2004
A witness told the Schabir Shaik trial in Durban on Monday that Shaik believed his political connections would enable his company to get a slice of the multibillion-rand arms deal. He said French firm Thomson CSF regarded political connections as important in the adjudication process of the arms deal.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124329">Shaik trial tracks ‘the tailor'</a>
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/ 25 October 2004
Male freshwater bass are producing eggs in the South Branch of the Potomac River in West Virginia, a possible sign of environmental pollution. Although the waters of the South Branch were described as ”clear as bottled water” by the Washington Post, the newspaper quoted scientists as saying the water could actually be highly polluted through poultry manure or other sources.
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/ 25 October 2004
The man who is said to be responsible for Nelson Mandela’s wardrobe, Yusuf Surtee, was mentioned several times in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in the Durban High Court on Monday. Surtee, also known as ”the tailor”, is alleged to be the person responsible for short-listing potential bidders in the government’s multibillion-rand arms deal.
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/ 25 October 2004
Typhoon Nock-ten lashed northern Taiwan with powerful winds and driving rain on Monday, disrupting international flights and closing financial markets, schools and government offices. Flash flooding killed three people, including a television cameraman and a firefighter. The typhoon’s eye passed just north of the capital, Taipei.