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/ 19 November 2007
While he might have been part of the apartheid government’s secret chemical and biological warfare programme, he did not act unprofessionally, Wouter Basson said on Monday. Basson pleaded not guilty to six charges brought against him at the Health Professions Council of South Africa. The charges relate to his time as head of the apartheid government’s chemical and biological warfare project.
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/ 19 November 2007
Siyabonga Nqakula, the son of Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula, will testify that he fell asleep at the wheel before a head-on collision, a Cape Town magistrate heard on Monday. Nqakula (27), of Johannesburg, has pleaded not guilty to charges of drunken and reckless driving.
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/ 19 November 2007
A special meeting will be held before the African National Congress’s (ANC) 52nd annual conference in December, the party said on Monday. ”The NEC [national executive committee] agreed to hold a special meeting before the conference to further discuss issues for inclusion in the NEC’s report to conference,” ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said.
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/ 19 November 2007
Standard Bank will raise its transaction fees by an average of 4,65% in 2008, the bank said on Monday. Increasing competitive pressure, rising interest rates and inflation were some of the reasons for the increase, said the bank’s CEO for personal and business banking, Sim Tshabalala.
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/ 19 November 2007
Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan was formally detained and charged on Monday with war crimes and crimes against humanity by Cambodia’s United Nations-backed genocide tribunal, a court spokesperson said. "The co-investigating judges have detained him for a period of one year," tribunal spokesperson Reach Sambath said.
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/ 19 November 2007
The battle to lead the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has boiled down to President Thabo Mbeki and his former deputy, Jacob Zuma, in a clash that has shaken the party to its core. There are no signs that an economic boom will end anytime soon but millions of South Africans mired in poverty are waiting for the ANC to ease their hardships.
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/ 19 November 2007
Detained Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan went on hunger strike on Monday to protest against President Pervez Musharraf’s dismissal of judges after he imposed emergency rule, a spokesperson said. Khan planned to continue fasting until all judges sacked after the emergency was imposed on November 3 were reinstated, said his spokesperson.
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/ 19 November 2007
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on Monday with a moving thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey, the church where they married 60 years ago. The pomp and splendour of the traditional ceremony came a day before the anniversary itself.
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/ 19 November 2007
The Israeli Cabinet on Monday approved the release of nearly 450 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to president Mahmoud Abbas ahead of a United States-sponsored peace meet, a senior official said. "The government approved the proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to release up to 500 Palestinian prisoners," the official said on condition of anonymity.
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/ 19 November 2007
South Africa’s former first lady, Graca Machel, on Monday joined President Thabo Mbeki in refuting claims that more South Africans are now poorer than they were in 1996. Machel said that while there was room for improvement, the African National Congress-led government had done exceptionally well in the fight against poverty.