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/ 15 September 2005
The electronic board in front of the class flickers, and a periodic table is projected on to the screen. ”Do you all know what this is?” booms a voice from the loud speaker. ”Yes!” the students chorus, as any typical class would. Except that this class is far from typical.
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/ 15 September 2005
United States President George Bush was to head back to storm-wracked New Orleans on Thursday as his popularity plumbed new lows and the death toll from Hurricane Katrina rose further. Bush was to make a prime time speech to spell out long-term plans for rebuilding the three Gulf of Mexico states — Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi — that were pummelled by the hurricane.
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/ 15 September 2005
If eating in Michelin-starred restaurants were an Olympic sport — and it really ought to be — Pim Techamuanvivit would win gold, easy. In the last week of April, Pim sampled the tasting menu at the three-star Fat Duck in Bray, recently named best restaurant in the world.
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/ 15 September 2005
The Democratic Alliance suffered its first losses in the National Assembly on Thursday when five of its MPs used the floor-crossing window to defect to other parties — only hours before the window closes at midnight. Four DA MPs — Bheki Mnyandu, Enyinna Nkem-Abonta, Richard Ntuli, and Dan Maluleke — joined the African National Congress.
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/ 15 September 2005
Zimbabwe plans to import four endangered Siberian tigers from China for the country’s national park, a project condemned by wildlife experts as potentially cruel and dangerous. Minister of the Environment Francis Nhema said the tigers were in return for Zimbabwe giving China breeding animals such as zebra, elephants and impala.
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/ 15 September 2005
In Car City, a chic, lavishly funded theme park in the Volkswagen company town of Wolfsburg in Germany, there is a museum, and in that museum, there is something from Britain. Among the waxed and buffed automobiles of all eras spread out over several floors sits a perky white model with familiar curves.
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/ 15 September 2005
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany are meeting the new Iranian president today in an attempt to avoid referring Iran to the United Nations security council over its nuclear activities. Iran’s hardline President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meets the leaders to discuss ways of avoiding possible sanctions after Iran resumed its uranium enrichment programme last month.
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/ 15 September 2005
Sudan welcomed plans by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build luxury accommodation in Khartoum — and hoped the rooms would be filled with foreigners looking for investment opportunities now that decades of war are finally over.
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/ 15 September 2005
One of the architectural jewels of late 19th century Paris — the enormous steel and glass exhibition hall known as the Grand Palais — opens to the public on Saturday for the first time in 12 years following a monumental face-lift. Closed for safety reasons in 1993 after a metal bolt fell from the ceiling, the fin-de-siêcle masterpiece has been renovated at a cost to the state of more than €70-million.
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/ 15 September 2005
African Union officials were to launch a final round of peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to bring an end to slaughter and starvation in the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur. AU mediator Sam Ibok told Agence France Presse that the opening ceremony would be held at around 6pm (5pm GMT) but could not confirm whether all the delegates had arrived.