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/ 17 November 2007

UN climate talks agree blueprint for action

A United Nations climate conference agreed on Friday a blueprint for fighting global warming and said governments have only a few years to avert some of the worst impacts. Delegates at the 130-nation talks stood and applauded after chairperson Rajendra Pachauri brought down the gavel on the November 12 to 17 meeting in Valencia, Spain, that wraps up six years of work.

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/ 17 November 2007

Writers’ strike claims first film casualty

In the first big-screen casualty of the Hollywood writers strike, Columbia Pictures said on Friday it had postponed production on Angels & Demons, a prequel to its box-office hit The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks. The Sony-owned film distributor said the planned release date for the thriller has been pushed back to 2009.

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/ 17 November 2007

Bangladesh cyclone toll nears 1 000

A powerful cyclone ripped through Bangladesh on Friday leaving a trail of destruction that claimed an estimated 1 000 lives and caused hundreds of thousands to flee the strong winds and driving rain. Cyclone Sidr crashed into the south-western coast after racing up the Bay of Bengal at 240km/h and triggered a 5m-high tidal wave.

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/ 17 November 2007

Media body concerned by govt’s ad threat

Print Media South Africa (PMSA) is seeking an urgent meeting with Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad after he threatened to withdraw government advertising from the Sunday Times. PMSA said it sought a meeting with the minister after he expressed his view that the government should pull its advertising from the weekly.

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/ 17 November 2007

Africa must grow energy sector to boost GDP

Africa requires massive investment in its failing energy sector to boost economic growth and meet its goal of halving poverty, a United States-Africa business summit heard on Friday. Emerging economies required a 16% increase in energy to drive every 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, said Andrew Fawthrop, Chevron energy company’s Nigerian vice-president.

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/ 17 November 2007

Mbeki calls for diaspora-Africa dialogue

There was an urgent need for greater co-operation between Africa and its compatriots in foreign countries, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. ”This is particularly so with all of us on the continent so that we respond successfully to such challenges as the attainment of peace and stability,” he told the opening of the African Diaspora Ministerial Conference in Midrand.

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/ 16 November 2007

A day New Zealand would like to forget

The opening day of the second Castle Lager Test between South Africa and New Zealand at SuperSport Park on Friday is one the Black Caps would probably prefer to forget. After a good start, the visitors collapsed to 187 for eight after tea, and received the news that injured opener Craig Cumming will be unable to resume batting.