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/ 25 October 2005

Tanzania’s Mkapa lauds Mugabe the ‘elder’

Tanzania’s outgoing President Benjamin Mkapa has said African leaders should be guided by continental ”elders” like Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe instead of being dictated to by former colonisers. Mkapa, who steps down later this month after a decade in power, was speaking late on Monday at a farewell banquet in Harare.

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/ 25 October 2005

England Test series can help heal Pakistan’s pain

Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul Haq has vowed to salve his country’s earthquake wounds with an exciting Test series against a resurgent England, who arrive on Wednesday on a high from their Ashes triumph. ”Cricket has been a great healer and we hope that both teams put on their best show to heal some of the wounds caused by the earthquake,” Inzamam said from Lahore.

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/ 25 October 2005

African nations act on bird-flu fears

African nations in increasing numbers are slapping bans on poultry imports and stepping up monitoring of wild fowl amid growing fears of outbreaks of a deadly strain of bird flu on the continent. About a dozen countries in Africa have imposed full or partial bans on imports of poultry and poultry products.

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/ 25 October 2005

Spanish look into death of Nigerian first lady

A Spanish judge on Monday ordered forensic scientists to determine whether Stella Obasanjo, wife of the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, died because a cosmetic surgery operation went wrong. Obasanjo (59) was rushed to a hospital emergency room in Marbella early on Sunday after an operation, reportedly to reduce weight, at the town’s Molding Clinic.

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/ 25 October 2005

Nigeria to plug ‘safety loopholes’ after air crash

Nigeria is to review the safety of the ageing fleet of passenger jets operated by its small private airlines following a crash which killed 117 people, President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Tuesday. An investigation has been launched to find out why a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 plunged to the ground and disintegrated shortly after taking off from Lagos on Saturday.

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/ 25 October 2005

Malawi suspends besieged Parliament

Malawi has temporarily suspended its Parliament after a violent protest by supporters of embattled President Bingu wa Mutharika, who faces the threat of impeachment. Speaker Louis Chimango suspended Parliament late on Monday after demonstrators smashed at least five cars belonging to opposition lawmakers.

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/ 25 October 2005

Major Coega investment announced

A R1,1-billion investment in the Coega industrial development zone — in the form of a chlorine refinery project and desalination plant — was announced on Tuesday. Straits Chemicals, a joint South-East Asian and South African company, will run the project in the zone in the Port Elizabeth area.

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/ 25 October 2005

Welcome to penal colony YaG 14/10

Four thousand nine hundred and sixty kilometres from Moscow, the rough stone track crests a rise and all is revealed. Hunched on the open steppe stands a group of tatty grey buildings, swept by plumes of dust. Welcome to Krasnokamensk, a town at the edge of civilisation.