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/ 10 December 2007
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have launched a contest to track down Father Christmas somewhere inside the mountainous Central Asian state — a week after Swedish experts reported that he must be there. The contest runs until December 20, but the hunt could prove tough because of the former Soviet republic’s imposing mountain ranges.
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/ 10 December 2007
A fake government office has been discovered in northern India that collected taxes, provided civic services and even handed out birth and death certificates, a report said on Monday. An office was set up outside Jhansi town in Uttar Pradesh state and 20 people employed to carry out jobs such as street sweeping.
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/ 10 December 2007
D-Day for the approximately 600 000 people who wrote matric in South Africa will be December 28 when the Department of Education releases this year’s final exam results. The results will be available in newspapers at 6am, said department spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele.
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/ 10 December 2007
DaimlerChrysler South Africa would from Monday be trading as Mercedes-Benz South Africa, the car manufacturer said. The name change will not affect present contracts and undertakings. ”It is business as usual, with a fresh focus and renewed energy,” said Hansgeorg Niefer, chairperson of Mercedes-Benz South Africa.
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/ 10 December 2007
The prospect of African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma becoming president is profoundly concerning, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille said on Monday at a press conference at Parliament to release the DA’s annual ”report card” on the performance of Cabinet ministers.
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/ 10 December 2007
Thirty-one illegal immigrants drowned when their boat sank on the weekend in the Aegean Sea off western Turkey while trying to reach Greece, a local official said on Monday. An earlier death toll had stood at 20 people. Six other immigrants were rescued overnight off the town of Seferihisar near the city of Izmir.
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/ 10 December 2007
Six French members of the Zoe’s Ark charity, three Chadians and a Sudanese national will be tried by a criminal court in Chad for having tried to fly 103 African children to France, a lawyer said on Monday. A Chadian investigating judge dismissed the case against 12 other suspects.
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/ 10 December 2007
Power cuts rolled out across the country on Monday as Eskom tried to load-shed after planned and unplanned power-station maintenance resulted in an electricity supply shortage. Eskom had to shed 1Â 000MW, although this could go as high as 1Â 500MW, said general manager of demand-side management Andrew Etzinger.
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/ 10 December 2007
Liverpool and Real Madrid, with an astonishing 13 European titles between them, face the humiliating prospect of being dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday. Liverpool, who have lifted the continental crown five times, are in the most precarious position, having to travel to France where only a Group A win will suffice against 1993 winners Marseille.
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/ 10 December 2007
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s office on Monday would not comment on a newspaper report that he was involved in criminal activities, saying the information was stale and had already been commented on. The Mail & Guardian has reported that Selebi could be charged as early as this week.