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/ 6 November 2006

Row over North West housing tenders

A controversial North West company with provincial government housing contracts worth almost R250-million has been implicated in tender irregularities described as "unheard of" by the provincial legislature. One of these contracts, worth R80-million, is for the building of 2 000 houses in Taung following floods in March this year.

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/ 6 November 2006

Brazil proposes fund to protect Amazon

Brazil, home to the world’s largest rainforest, will ask rich nations to back a plan to help it slow deforestation at global climate talks this week, a senior environmental official said. The plan marks a first step toward including deforestation in global climate agreements to cut emissions of carbon.

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/ 6 November 2006

Armed protesters cut Nigeria oil output

Output of 55 000 barrels per day of oil was cut in Nigeria when armed protesters on Monday forced the closure of a flow station belonging to Italy’s Agip company in the Niger Delta, an Agip official said. ”There were 48 persons — all local staff — on the flow station when it was invaded by the protesters,” said the official.

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/ 6 November 2006

Mathematician creates hardest sudoku puzzle

A Finnish mathematician on Monday claimed he had created the world’s hardest sudoku puzzle, a brain-teaser that required three months’ work and a billion combinations to produce. ”AI Escargot is the most difficult sudoku puzzle known so far,” the puzzle’s 37-year-old creator and applied mathematician Arto Inkala said.

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/ 6 November 2006

Many said killed as Ugandan army bombs villages

The Ugandan army said on Monday it had killed 12 people in weekend bombing raids against tribal warriors accused of shooting at a military helicopter over the country’s restive north-east Karamoja region. But sources in the area said the death toll was much higher and spoke of residents reporting as many as 500 people killed.

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/ 6 November 2006

Male models need to keep eye on the ball

Male models being used as ball boys at this week’s end-of-season WTA Championships need to keep their minds on the job and not be distracted by the female players, world number eight Elena Dementieva said on Monday. ”I don’t think they really know what they have to do on the court,” the Russian tennis star told reporters.

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/ 6 November 2006

Jo’burg city council in a porn pickle

Meet Rose … this old bird sure does love her toys! Rose will put that thing just about anywhere you ask her to, and she’ll love it. She gets hornier and hornier with age and is at her sexual peak. Two middle managers of the Johannesburg city council have already met Rose on the internet, it was revealed on Monday.