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/ 11 October 2007
Darfur peace talks, aimed at stopping chaotic violence plaguing Sudan’s west, will be a ”moment of truth”, United Nations envoy Jan Eliasson said on Thursday. He urged all of the more than a dozen fractured Darfur rebel factions to attend the talks due to start in Libya on October 27 and said an urgent ceasefire would be the priority.
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/ 11 October 2007
A suicide bomber drove a pickup truck filled with explosives into a Somali army base, killing himself and two others near a hotel where the prime minister set up temporary headquarters, officials said on Thursday. The explosion late on Wednesday, in the southern town of Baidoa, targeted a base manned mostly by Ethiopian troops.
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/ 11 October 2007
Pakistan put up a spirited display as they fought to save the second Test against South Africa on the fourth day on Thursday. Kamran Akmal (49) and Younis Khan (48) added 93 runs for the unbroken second wicket to take Pakistan to 108-1 at close, raising the home team’s hopes of salvaging the match on the fifth day on a deteriorating pitch.
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/ 11 October 2007
South African fixed-line telephone operator Telkom said in a cautionary announcement on Thursday that its discussions with Vodafone and MTN are still ongoing. Telkom said discussions were part of its mobile-strategy review, and that shareholders are advised to continue exercising caution when dealing in their shares until a further announcement is made.
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/ 11 October 2007
Iraq’s humanitarian crisis is worsening and the plight of millions of displaced Iraqis is critical, says a grim United Nations report on human rights in the war-torn country that was released on Thursday. ”Daily life for the average Iraqi civilian remains extremely precarious,” said the human rights report of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq.
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/ 11 October 2007
French archaeologists say they have excavated an 11 000-year-old wall painting in red, black and white in northern Syria that they describe as the oldest in the world, although it resembles a modern work. The two-square-metre painting was found below ground at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates.
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/ 11 October 2007
The main party in southern Sudan has suspended its participation in the national government until its northern partners reignite a stalled peace process, the secretary general of the party said on Thursday. Pagan Amum of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) said: ”The SPLM has recalled all ministers and presidential advisers.”
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/ 11 October 2007
Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar has been banned for 13 international matches and fined 000 by the disciplinary committee of the country’s cricket board for four breaches of the code of conduct. The committee also placed the fast bowler on a two-year probation period during which if he is found guilty of violating the code of conduct he could be banned for life.
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/ 11 October 2007
Gunfire rang out Thursday near Mushaki in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Nord-Kivu province, a day after a renegade former general appealed for a truce with the army, the United Nations said. ”Firing is going on this morning 2km or 3km from Mushaki,” Prem Tiwari, local military spokesperson for the UN’s peacekeeping mission in DRC, said.
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/ 11 October 2007
The South African government is speaking to the mining sector about setting up the industry safety audit called for by President Thabo Mbeki. ”The government calls on the industry to work with the Department of Minerals and Energy and other stakeholders to ensure that concrete steps are taken,” government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday.