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/ 14 December 2004
Children going to the Al-Amel primary school have to take Baghdad’s airport road, considered the most dangerous in all of Iraq. But that’s just one of the many threats they face in the war-torn city. ”I dream there’s an explosion, a big one. Then I wake up and I’m scared,” said eight-year-old Nour as she sat in a school classroom in southwest Baghdad.
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/ 14 December 2004
The Zimbabwean government will not tolerate foreign interference in next year’s parliamentary elections, the country’s foreign minister, Kembo Mohadi, said on Tuesday. ”The government of Zimbabwe will not allow its people to become gullible victims of hybrid, genetically modified propaganda, affectionately fanned, doctored and synthesised by reactionary forces to discredit our election process,” Mohadi said.
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/ 14 December 2004
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir is seeking to extend a state of emergency for another year because of the conflict in Darfur and security problems in other areas of the country. Beshir has gone to the national assembly to secure a renewal of the emergency laws, which are due to expire on December 31, as well as a six-month extension of Parliament’s term.
Murders stop aid work in south Darfur
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/ 14 December 2004
Piercing the sky above the verdant hills of southern France, a stunningly modern roadway bridge hailed as the tallest in the world was to be officially inaugurated on Tuesday. Celebrated as a work of art and an object of French national pride, the Millau bridge will enable motorists to take a drive through the sky — 270m above the Tarn valley.
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/ 14 December 2004
A day after the official opposition Democratic Alliance gave President Thabo Mbeki a ”D” in its ”report card”, a national survey suggested that 2004 had in fact been the president’s personal best, with an average of 58%. According to Research Surveys, for three years — 2000 to 2002 — the president’s approval rating was generally in the low 30s.
DA rates Cabinet with ‘report card’
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/ 14 December 2004
Every Christmas, Seiji Makino used to dread facing up to his three children whose questions about Santa Claus would leave him tongue-tied. But this year Makino and other Japanese who want to be able to bellow out a perfect ”Ho, ho, ho” are getting help in the form of professional training by the country’s only ”certified” Santa Claus.
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/ 14 December 2004
World crude oil prices rose on Monday as traders worried about heating oil supplies in anticipation of a plunge in temperatures in the northeastern United States. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, climbed 30 cents to ,01 a barrel.
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/ 14 December 2004
MD and CEO of Total South Africa Philip Jordan has been elected as the chairperson of the South African Petroleum Industry Association for 2005, the association said in a statement on Tuesday. Jordan succeeds Simphiwe Mehlomakulu, a general manager at PetroSA.
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/ 14 December 2004
One person out of every eight on Earth is now connected to the internet, and this phenomenal growth has occurred in less than 10 years. By 2010, this internet usage growth could narrow to one in five people. This is according to the latest statistics released this week by <i>ResearchWorldwide.com</i>.
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/ 14 December 2004
United States President George Bush is to steer clear of Britain in a new year re-election tour of Europe, partly to give British Prime Minister Tony Blair space to rebuild his damaged foreign policy around the Middle East peace process, climate change and aid to Africa.