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/ 14 November 2006

SA to press on with mediating role in Burundi

South Africa will press on with its mediating role in Burundi to get the last active rebel group to sign a peace accord, Pretoria’s special envoy to the Great Lakes region said on Tuesday. "We are not throwing in the towel. We will carry on," Kingsley Mamabola told a seminar, adding that the National Liberation Forces rebel group was "the one piece left out of the jigsaw puzzle".

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/ 14 November 2006

Giuliani explores possible presidential run

Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican who guided his city through the chaos of the September 11 attacks, has taken a key step towards a possible 2008 United States presidential run. Giuliani has filed papers in New York state to set up a committee to explore a possible candidacy, although an aide said Monday he has not made up his mind.

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/ 14 November 2006

SACP expresses concern over Shaik ruling

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has expressed its serious concerns about the Supreme Court of Appeal’s recent ruling in the Schabir Shaik matter, the party said on Tuesday. ”The SACP notes and wishes to express its serious concerns about the implications of the letter written by Judge Hilary Squires to Business Day,” a party statement read.

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/ 14 November 2006

Thukela elephants find sanctuary

Nine African elephants in KwaZulu-Natal facing death following a successful land claim were moved to a wildlife sanctuary in Limpopo over the weekend, animal rights activists said on Tuesday. The previous land owners were planning to kill the elephants as the new owners intended using the land solely for farming, said Animal Rights Africa’s Michele Pickover.

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/ 14 November 2006

Zambia court rejects plea to scrap death sentences

Zambia’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition by two death-row inmates who sought the abolition of capital punishment on the grounds that it went against ”Christian values”. ”The courts in this country have no powers to abolish the death penalty because they do not have power to legislate,” the Supreme Court said in a judgement passed late on Monday.

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/ 14 November 2006

Drug prices for needy on the rise

Drug prices have increased in the past five years despite a commitment by the World Trade Organisation’s 149 members to make them more accessible to the world’s poor, Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Tuesday. MSF said that newer HIV medicines can cost up to 50 times more than the cheapest first-line treatments.