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/ 14 November 2007

Monkey business at the M&G

I’m taking a walk through Johannesburg Zoo in the late afternoon. It’s been a quiet day, I’m in a lazy mood and comfy clothes. Fog is rolling in from across the lake, light is draining out of the sky and the people out of the place. In the near distance around the darkening park, the tops of city blocks are lost in the soft, grey suckling of low rainclouds.

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/ 14 November 2007

Pakistan opposition aims to unite

Pakistani opposition parties tried to forge a united front on Wednesday against military President Pervez Musharraf who insisted a state of emergency was necessary for fair elections. United States ally Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, declared emergency rule in nuclear-armed Pakistan on November 3.

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/ 14 November 2007

Chevron to pay $30m in oil-for-food settlement

Chevron, the number-two United States oil company, has agreed to pay -million to resolve criminal and civil liabilities related to procurement of oil under the United Nations oil-for-food programme, US prosecutors said on Wednesday. Chevron will not be prosecuted and will continue to cooperate with investigators, they said.

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/ 14 November 2007

France hit by transport chaos

France was plunged into travel chaos for the second time in a month on Wednesday as striking railway unions staged a show of strength against the economic reforms of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Nationwide fewer than one-quarter of trains were running normally — and only 90 out 700 TGV fast trains.

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/ 14 November 2007

New medical aid launched — for pets

A medical-aid scheme for cats and dogs has been launched, the company behind the initiative said on Wednesday. ”It’s hard enough for us as humans to wade through the multitude of options available to us from the various medical-aid offerings, so a simple one for dogs and cats is as essential for their owners,” Medipet SA said.

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/ 14 November 2007

ANC branch denies having nomination list

The Sandton branch of the African National Congress (ANC) has not drawn up or endorsed any list of desired candidates for ANC leadership positions due to be determined later this year. The branch responded on Wednesday to a City Press article published this week that alleged the party had created such a list.

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/ 14 November 2007

Bangladesh, eastern India on cyclone alert

Thousands of people fled their homes along Bangladesh’s southern coast on Wednesday as volunteers with loudspeakers went from village to village warning that a severe cyclone was approaching from the Bay of Bengal. ”Where shall I go?” said a woman in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh’s main sea resort, holding her child in one hand.