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/ 29 January 2008
Premier Wen Jiabao rushed on Tuesday to oversee disaster relief efforts as China’s leadership scrambled to limit the impact of the most brutal winter weather to hit the nation for half a century. The snowfalls and freezing temperatures across China have left dozens dead and paralysed infrastructure and power supplies in some areas.
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/ 29 January 2008
The Independent Democrats (ID) said on Monday it would bring a motion of no confidence against President Thabo Mbeki and his Cabinet for failing to avert power cuts that have forced some industries to shut down. ID leader Patricia de Lille accused Mbeki of having ignored warnings about the crunch in electricity supplies.
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/ 29 January 2008
Kenyan security forces struggled on Tuesday to contain escalating violence as the post-election unrest claimed its first victim among the country’s politicians. Heavily armed Kenyan army soldiers patrolled the volatile Rift Valley capital, Nakuru, on Tuesday while paramilitary police guarded the town of Naivasha, the new epicentre of tribal fighting.
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/ 29 January 2008
It was as close as it gets to a coronation. In front of a rapturous, chanting crowd, Senator Ted Kennedy on Monday enfolded Barack Obama into a hug, and in that instant drew a clear line of succession from the Democratic hero of the past to a younger generation.
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/ 29 January 2008
South African cellphone operator Vodacom recorded 33-million customers across its networks operating in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique as at the end of December 2007 — a 4,7% increase in the three months since end September 2007, the company said on Tuesday.
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/ 29 January 2008
George Bush used his final State of the Union address on Monday night to try to reassert his primacy in American political life and demonstrate his commitment to Republican principles. The night was one of the few remaining moments in the national spotlight for the man overshadowed by the race to choose his successor.
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/ 29 January 2008
South Africa’s critical electricity crunch has raised doubts over whether infrastructure can keep pace with an economic boom while the country prepares to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament. South Africa is gripped by traumatic power cuts that have brought the mining industry, mainstay of the economy, to a halt.
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/ 29 January 2008
Accused French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel walked free after judges placed him under formal investigation on Monday for his role in $7-billion of losses at Société Générale but stopped short of charging him with fraud. Shares in the French bank took a battering as allegations emerged that a board member was guilty of insider trading related to the scandal.
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/ 29 January 2008
Every year the festival season becomes longer and more exotic. That summer spell when young people gather in fields to listen to music and fall over, the result of either inebriation or inappropriate footwear, used to involve simply packing a tent and heading for a farmer’s field. Today you can build your summer around a trip to Benicassim in Spain, Burning Man in Nevada or Exit in Serbia.
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/ 29 January 2008
There are many things I remember fondly from my childhood Christmases: the Advent countdown, the silver milk bottle-top decorations, my formative rendering of Mary in the nativity musical Only a Baby. But from a very young age I was also aware that December was the month that told the world what a family ought to look like.