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/ 7 February 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected this week to outline a strategy to cut crime and poverty and prepare the nation to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup in a speech overshadowed by a deep rift in his ruling party. Mbeki’s speech to Parliament on Friday has been preceded by a heightened debate over rampant crime.
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/ 7 February 2007
More than 1 000 villagers have fled a southern Afghan town as Taliban fighters dig in to repel Nato efforts to drive them out, residents and officials said on Wednesday. Helmand provincial governor Haji Assadullah Wafa told Reuters that a military operation would soon be launched to recapture Musa Qala.
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/ 7 February 2007
Storms that lashed Angola in recent weeks killed at least 114 people, according to a government report cited by state media on Wednesday. Ten people are still missing and more than 28 000 were left homeless by the torrential rain that caused flash floods and mudslides, according to a report presented to Parliament on Tuesday.
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/ 7 February 2007
Former rebels operating in eastern Sudan are to demobilise ”within days” following the group’s official registration as a political party, officials said on Wednesday. Rejecting reports that the movement has split along ethnic lines, Eastern Front deputy chairperson Amna Dirar said a peace deal signed last October is on track.
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/ 7 February 2007
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will attend a meeting of the group of seven (G7) ministers of finance and central bank governors, in Essen, Germany, the National Treasury said on Wednesday. Manuel was invited by the G7, together with finance ministers from Brazil, India, Russia, China and Mexico, to attend the meeting to be held on Friday.
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/ 7 February 2007
Two commercial farmer unions are to meet Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana this week to discuss a stand-off over remarks she made late last year. In a statement, AgriSA and the National African Farmers’ Union of South Africa said ”some misunderstanding” had arisen on the matter.
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/ 7 February 2007
As Zimbabwe’s disgruntled doctors continue their strike, concern is growing about how the prolonged stayaway is affecting HIV-positive patients.
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/ 7 February 2007
President Hu Jintao, apparently seeking to ease concerns over China’s investment drive in Africa, said on Wednesday that Beijing’s business interests would not hurt the continent. Speaking at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, Hu frequently used the word ”trust” to outline his vision of China’s economic ties with Africa.
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/ 7 February 2007
A woman was injured on Wednesday in an explosion at Britain’s vehicle licensing agency, the third attack in three days on motoring-related agencies or companies. Police refused to confirm the nature of the explosion, but the BBC News reported that a parcel bomb had exploded at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea, Wales.
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/ 7 February 2007
A firm of commercial lawyers on Wednesday did what First National Bank (FNB) did not do and published an advertisement in Beeld newspaper voicing its grievances about crime. ”We might not have an advertising budget like that of FNB, but we have De la Rey courage,” read the advert, placed by Pretoria-based Van Huyssteens attorneys.