Staff Reporter
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/ 18 October 2007

Assembly backs embattled Manto

The National Assembly on Thursday adopted a motion of full confidence in Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, thereby rejecting the original motion by the Democratic Alliance, which called for a special committee to probe her fitness to hold public office.

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/ 18 October 2007

‘Mining danger no excuse to harm people’

South Africa’s mining industry, which records an average of 200 fatalities every year, is seeking to reduce death rates by at least 20% by 2013, the Chamber of Mines said on Thursday. ”To be world-class by 2013, an annual milestone of reducing fatality rates by at least 20% a year is needed,” the chamber’s chief executive said.

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/ 18 October 2007

Mali plans to abolish death penalty

The government in the West African state of Mali plans to abolish the death penalty, three decades after it carried out its last execution, it said on Thursday. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday adopted a Bill that ”stipulated that the death penalty be abolished and … that it is replaced by life imprisonment”, said a statement.

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/ 18 October 2007

Chadian rebels take American hostage

An American humanitarian worker participating in an aid project was captured by Tubu rebels in Tibesti, northern Chad, rebels said on Thursday. ”The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) has detained an American aid worker … in the area controlled by the MDJT,” according to a statement obtained from a branch of the armed rebel group.

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/ 18 October 2007

Plans to improve road integration in Southern Africa

The Department of Transport has adopted a plan of action to improve regional and national road integration, Jeff Radebe, the Minister of Transport, said on Thursday. Radebe was speaking at an African Union conference at KwaZulu-Natal’s Sibaya Casino and said the effort was part of the AU’s call to eliminate missing infrastructure links on roads.