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/ 9 November 2004
South African President Thabo Mbeki was on Tuesday to meet his Côte d’Ivoire counterpart Laurent Gbagbo, hoping to ease tensions after a weekend of violence that has evoked fears of a return to the conflict that has split the West African state for two years.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=125194">Mbeki flies to restive Côte d’Ivoire</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=125187">500 wounded in Abidjan unrest</a>
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/ 9 November 2004
It was the last fang for Malaysian snake-charmer Bidin Mat Hashim when a cobra bit him in front of a Korean television crew. After 24 snakebites in a 50-year career, he’s calling it quits. Bidin, who has been handling snakes since the age of 15 and appeared regularly on television, said: ”I have given serious thought to it and have decided to stop, once and for all.”
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/ 9 November 2004
A German adventurer has become the first person to cross Australia from south to north using a kite-powered skateboard. Dirk Gion left Adelaide in South Australia 17 days ago and arrived in the Northern Territory city of Darwin on Tuesday.
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/ 9 November 2004
The country is in the midst of an educational crisis when it comes to mathematics and physical science. The lack of matriculants in these subjects is one of the biggest obstacles for African advancement. The <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> spoke to an expert about teaching mathematics, and the role language plays.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124969">SA maths scores ‘near worst in world'</a>
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/ 9 November 2004
The Securities Regulation Panel ruled on Monday in favour of the Harmony gold mining company in the first of a series of legal and regulatory challenges to its hostile ,1-billion takeover bid for rival South African mining company Gold Fields.
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/ 9 November 2004
Archaeologists were on Monday aghast over a plan by MPs loyal to Silvio Berlusconi to legalise the private ownership of archaeological treasures in Italy. One called the measure a ”looters’ charter”. At present, all antiquities found in Italian soil are deemed to be the property of the state and are meant to be handed over to the authorities.
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/ 9 November 2004
A final report on the Jali Commission’s investigation into corruption and maladministration in prisons is being compiled, with gun smuggling one of the issues addressed. ”C-Max is one of the prisons that fall in the nine management areas we looked at,” said commission secretary Charles Frank on Tuesday.
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/ 9 November 2004
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has asked Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to help mediate in its long-running dispute over Western Sahara, state media said on Tuesday. The invitation was delivered to Mugabe in Harare on Monday by Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa.
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/ 9 November 2004
Namibia is getting ready to turn the page on an era with elections next week to choose a successor to President Sam Nujoma, a pivotal figure for the past five decades in this Southern African country. Nujoma’s close ally and hand-picked successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, is expected easily to win the election.
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/ 9 November 2004
Barry Manilow is a little surprised to see tens of thousands of people singing along with him. "Most of the nights I look up, and there are between 10 000 and 15 000 people out there," the entertainer told <i>The Denver Post</i> in Sunday’s editions. "They can’t all be fans from the Seventies."