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/ 11 November 2007

The pugilist who wrote the story of America

Shortly after midday on November 10, the news hit the wires: Norman Mailer, the fearless alpha male among American men of letters, had died of renal failure early in the morning at the age of 84. Now would come the final calling to account; not just for the literary legacy of a man who believed that ”a really great novel does not have something to say”.

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/ 11 November 2007

Nigeria minister sees $100 oil shortlived

There is no fundamental justification for oil at a barrel and Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member Nigeria is assuming that prices will not last at this level, Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Saturday. He said that no one in Opec would be surprised if the price fell to in the next few weeks.

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/ 11 November 2007

Dangerous bacteria breeding in Cape Town river

City of Cape Town officials have tracked dangerously high levels of E coli bacteria and other serious pollutants in the city’s Black River, said a citizen action group called What on Earth Is Happening on Saturday. Group coordinator Leila Beltramo said the pollution poses a significant health hazard to residential areas.

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/ 11 November 2007

‘Norman was a working man. Lord, did he work’

Norman Mailer would probably not have wanted an old man’s death. He would have preferred some other way — an accident, a bar fight or a lover’s brawl — so that his death, like his life, could inspire or appal or, above all, make people talk. But Mailer, a giant of American literature, died of renal failure on Saturday in a New York hospital bed.

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/ 11 November 2007

Officials ‘siphoned off’ farmers’ billions

Top Land Bank officials have siphoned off more than R2-billion — meant for farmers — to fund their close friends’ and associates’ ventures, the <i>Sunday Times</i> reported. The money was reportedly used for luxury golf estates, a sugar mill, equestrian estates and residential developments. The fraud was revealed in a forensic audit by Deloitte, which was handed to the Cabinet this week.

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/ 11 November 2007

Eritrea sorts war-torn past for archive chest

Surrounded by yellow papers crackling to the touch, archivists painstakingly catalogue documents and photographs that make up the history of a nation — and the vertebrae of Eritrea’s national archive. It’s a record of one of Africa’s most remarkable rebel armies, documenting the past spirit of optimism that drove their 30-year bitter guerrilla war.

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/ 10 November 2007

Pakistan a pressure cooker, says Bhutto

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto described Pakistan on Saturday as a pressure cooker about to explode, as President Pervez Musharraf’s government tightened screws on media by ordering out three British journalists. Having invoked emergency powers a week ago, Musharraf has sacked most of the country’s judges and ordered police to round up most of the opposition leadership.