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/ 11 October 2006
The United States Department of Homeland Security plans to develop software that analyses and summarises opinions expressed in articles, providing a possible tool for better monitoring what is written about the US in the global press. The department says it will spend ,4-million supporting research to analyse human language in texts.
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/ 11 October 2006
A bid by the African National Congress to wrest back power in Cape Town, a lone bastion of opposition to South Africa’s ruling party, has triggered a fierce backlash across the political spectrum. Western Cape minister of local government Richard Dyantyi has summoned members of the city council to a meeting next Tuesday where he will flesh out plans to amend the system of government.
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/ 11 October 2006
Cash-in-transit security guards threatened to strike in response to the recent spate of violent heists, the Motor Transport Workers’ Union (MTWU) said on Wednesday. ”The union met with shop stewards from around the country today [Wednesday] on the crisis. It has had enough,” said union general secretary Emily Fourie.
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/ 11 October 2006
At least 11 000 children are still with armed groups or unaccounted for more than two years after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) launched a programme to release and re-integrate child soldiers back into civilian life, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. Girls in particular were worst affected, with most of those snatched by armed groups still unaccounted for.
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/ 11 October 2006
A light aircraft that went missing after it took off from Pietermaritzburg was found on Wednesday morning with no survivors on board, rescue services said. The plane, with the bodies of three occupants, was found at Rhino’s Peak in the southern Drakensberg, near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal, said Santjie White, a spokesperson for the South African Search and Rescue Organisation.
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/ 11 October 2006
Britain vowed on Wednesday it would not back down over a November deadline for reaching a power-sharing deal in Northern Ireland as it prepared to host crucial talks with the province’s politicians. Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said he believed a deal was possible but stressed that London was serious about closing down Northern Ireland’s Stormont assembly if a deal is not reached.
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/ 11 October 2006
Armed youths have released dozens of Nigerian employees of the oil company Shell and its subcontractors, but about 15 workers are still being held at a flow station in the restive Niger Delta, security sources said on Wednesday. About 60 workers were taken hostage on Tuesday morning when the armed youths seized the Shell flow station on the Nun river in Bayelsa State.
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/ 11 October 2006
Shares in South Africa’s media and entertainment group Naspers have jumped 9,52% so far this month, outshining the media index at 6,97%. Analysts said the stocks have been "undervalued in recent months and were beginning to gain value". By 11.49am on Wednesday, shares in Naspers had picked up 1,3% to R130,98.
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/ 11 October 2006
A senior Gauteng transport official has acknowledged that he failed to follow proper procedures in awarding a R5-million tender to a Cabinet minister’s wife. Media reports on Wednesday quoted provincial transport department head Sibusiso Buthelezi as saying he did not advertise the tender ”because it was a matter of urgency”.
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/ 11 October 2006
A sell-off in resources stocks pushed the JSE into the red by 191 points by midday Wednesday, with players also seen adopting a cautious stance ahead of the key decision on interest rates due on Thursday. By 12.10pm, the all-share index was down 0,84%, with gold off by 2,58% and resources by 1,55%.