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/ 18 October 2007

French president and wife divorce

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia have divorced by mutual consent after an often tempestuous 11-year marriage, the Presidency announced on Thursday. The Elysee Palace released a statement to confirm the split as weeks of speculation reached fever pitch and newspapers for the first time devoted extensive front-page reports to the collapse of the marriage.

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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

Crisis talks falter in south Sudan

Crisis talks between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and southern leader Salva Kiir ended on Thursday without agreement on getting his former rebels to rejoin the unity government they quit a week ago. The meeting at the presidential palace in Khartoum came the day after al-Bashir authorised a Cabinet reshuffle.

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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.