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/ 7 February 2007
When Marilyn Ward was a girl, church meant starched shirts, disapproving scowls and endless repetition of prayers she didn’t understand. Now the South African spends Sunday mornings whooping it up with hundreds of ”brothers and sisters” who grind their hips to jovial Zulu songs and punctuate the preacher’s sermon with howls of ”Allelujah”.
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/ 7 February 2007
Bafana Bafana’s first training camp under new coach, Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, was a success, the coach told reporters at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ”It was good. The players were committed and dedicated.” Parreira said everything went according to plan, with the only disturbance being the bustling Johannesburg traffic.
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/ 7 February 2007
More than 1 000 villagers have fled a southern Afghan town as Taliban fighters dig in to repel Nato efforts to drive them out, residents and officials said on Wednesday. Helmand provincial governor Haji Assadullah Wafa told Reuters that a military operation would soon be launched to recapture Musa Qala.
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/ 7 February 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected this week to outline a strategy to cut crime and poverty and prepare the nation to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup in a speech overshadowed by a deep rift in his ruling party. Mbeki’s speech to Parliament on Friday has been preceded by a heightened debate over rampant crime.
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/ 7 February 2007
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will attend a meeting of the group of seven (G7) ministers of finance and central bank governors, in Essen, Germany, the National Treasury said on Wednesday. Manuel was invited by the G7, together with finance ministers from Brazil, India, Russia, China and Mexico, to attend the meeting to be held on Friday.
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/ 7 February 2007
Former rebels operating in eastern Sudan are to demobilise ”within days” following the group’s official registration as a political party, officials said on Wednesday. Rejecting reports that the movement has split along ethnic lines, Eastern Front deputy chairperson Amna Dirar said a peace deal signed last October is on track.
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/ 7 February 2007
Storms that lashed Angola in recent weeks killed at least 114 people, according to a government report cited by state media on Wednesday. Ten people are still missing and more than 28 000 were left homeless by the torrential rain that caused flash floods and mudslides, according to a report presented to Parliament on Tuesday.
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/ 7 February 2007
Two commercial farmer unions are to meet Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana this week to discuss a stand-off over remarks she made late last year. In a statement, AgriSA and the National African Farmers’ Union of South Africa said ”some misunderstanding” had arisen on the matter.
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/ 7 February 2007
As Zimbabwe’s disgruntled doctors continue their strike, concern is growing about how the prolonged stayaway is affecting HIV-positive patients.
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/ 7 February 2007
President Hu Jintao, apparently seeking to ease concerns over China’s investment drive in Africa, said on Wednesday that Beijing’s business interests would not hurt the continent. Speaking at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, Hu frequently used the word ”trust” to outline his vision of China’s economic ties with Africa.