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/ 4 December 2007
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In the fierce debate raging around the man tipped to become South Africa’s next president, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma, there are few neutrals. With less than a fortnight to go before the ruling party’s national conference in Polokwane, reports show a country split over the politician.
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/ 4 December 2007
Former South Africa opening batsman Gary Kirsten has delayed taking over as India coach, saying he wants assurances from the players over the job. ”I have heard rumours about some senior players expressing their concern about my possible appointment and I would prefer to have clarity on that before I commit myself,” Kirsten said.
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/ 4 December 2007
United States intelligence agencies undercut the White House on Monday by disclosing for the first time that Iran has not been pursuing a nuclear weapons development programme for the past four years. The secret report, which was declassified on Monday and published, marked a significant shift from previous estimates.
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/ 4 December 2007
Brad Pitt launched his own regeneration project for Katrina-ravaged New Orleans on Monday, unveiling designs for a range of eco-friendly and flood-proof homes. Pitt, who had ambitions to be an architect if he had not taken up acting, commissioned 13 architectural firms to produce houses that would incorporate solar power and other environmentally-sound designs.
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/ 4 December 2007
The Paris boat show, extended this year to 15km of alleys with 1Â 200 stands, opened this weekend stressing measures by the boatbuilding industry to protect the environment. Yachting is a huge leisure activity in France, which is home to leading boatbuilder Beneteau.
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/ 4 December 2007
The human rights of the world’s poorest people will be violated unless developed countries accept the need for drastic and immediate steps to prevent global warming from triggering dangerous climate change, the United Nations warned recently. Calling for urgent action on a post-Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse gases, the UN said the risks of "ecological catastrophe" were increasing.
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/ 4 December 2007
First there was economy class, business class and, on some airlines, first class. The discerning traveller can even book an exclusive suite, but the newest addition to the world of air travel is "green class". Unlike other classes, green class offers no exclusive perks such as vegan meals. Instead you could end up next to a snoring Texan who drives a gas-guzzling SUV and who paid a lot less for his seat than you did.
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/ 4 December 2007
The Breede River Valley in the Western Cape is known as a fertile farming area that hosts internationally renowned vineyards, picturesque fruit orchards and tourist farm stalls, but a visit to Ashton’s Zolani township quickly scrapes away the lush veneer to reveal the reality of unemployment, poverty and hunger for many of its inhabitants.
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/ 4 December 2007
Russia goes to the polls on Sunday under a shadow. Many foreign observers will be scattered across the country, but the West’s preferred agency for election observing, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OCSE), claims it was blocked from sending monitors to Moscow.
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/ 4 December 2007
Hacking his way through the lush forest with a machete, his rubber boots sinking into the moist earth, Lambert Kwame surveys the plot of land that his family has worked for more than 30 years, harvesting cocoa. ”We know that the national price for cocoa is very high,” Kwame says as he stands under a fecund canopy about an hour north of Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan.