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/ 25 October 2004

Shaik trial tracks ‘the tailor’

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 hits Taiwan

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.

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/ 25 October 2004

Many tonnes of explosives disappear in Iraq

Several hundred tonnes of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the United Nations nuclear agency confirmed on Monday. The explosives include HMX and RDX, which can be used to demolish buildings and down jetliners.

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/ 25 October 2004

Botswana progresses in Aids treatment

Provision of anti-retroviral therapy to people living with HIV/Aids in Botswana is progressing at a steady rate, resulting in fewer deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday. ”The overall mortality of patients on treatment is less than 10%,” says a report compiled by Botswana’s Health Ministry and WHO experts.

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/ 25 October 2004

A backwards achievement

A 22-year-old Malaysian electronic engineer has claimed a national record for running backwards, saying he ”wanted to do something meaningful in life”. S Moganasundar won a place in the popular Malaysia Book of Records after running backwards for 30km, the official Bernama news agency reported on Monday.

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/ 25 October 2004

Sudan peace talks kick off in Nigeria

Sudanese government envoys and the leaders of a rebellion in the western province of Darfur opened formal peace negotiations on Monday at an African Union-sponsored conference in Abuja. AU special envoy Hamid Algabid welcomed the delegates to the conference venue in the Nigerian capital before the start of closed-door talks.