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/ 10 November 2006
Researchers in Timbuktu are fighting to preserve tens of thousands of ancient texts which they say prove Africa had a written history at least as old as the European Renaissance. Private and public libraries in the fabled Saharan town in Mali have already collected 150 000 brittle manuscripts, some of them from the 13th century.
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/ 10 November 2006
The Public Protector’s finding that Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya was not duly influenced in awarding a large government contract to an investment company defied common sense, the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday.
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/ 10 November 2006
It is important to address challenges in relationships between the tiers of district and local municipalities to ensure better service delivery, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Mbeki was speaking in Parys in the Free State at a sitting of the National Council of Provinces.
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/ 10 November 2006
A rally in precious metals provided the spark to take the JSE higher on Friday morning. However, profit-taking prevented the market from firing on all cylinders and the advance resembled more of a Sunday drive than a grand prix. By 11.58am, the all-share index added 0,36%.
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/ 10 November 2006
A few thousand gay people and their supporters rallied in Jerusalem on Friday under heavy security, going ahead with a festival that has sparked religious protests and highlighted deep divisions in Israeli society. Organisers had planned a street parade but cancelled it after police said they needed to beef up security.
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/ 10 November 2006
The police need more dogs for the 2009 general elections and the 2010 Soccer World Cup, police Deputy National Commissioner Mala Singh said on Friday. She was speaking at a ceremony where four Star of Bravery medals were awarded to police dogs. Of the four, only one was still alive to receive the medal.
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/ 10 November 2006
The United Nations is failing the poorest and most vulnerable because its funding projects are undermined by too many agencies duplicating each other’s work, a high-level panel warned on Thursday. Adnan Amin, executive director for the report, said: ”The United Nations is punching well below its weight.”
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/ 10 November 2006
Saif al-Islam, a prominent son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi who made a rare public criticism of the country’s political system in August, is leaving to work overseas. Islam, in his early 30s, will work in an international economic institution, a source said.
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/ 10 November 2006
Dancing and singing eunuchs are knocking on doors in the Indian city of Patna in a bid to embarrass shopkeepers into paying their taxes. The new shock strategy, in which sari-clad and heavily made up eunuchs accompany officials on their rounds of crowded shopping areas in a country notorious for tax evasion and non-payment, has been declared a success.
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/ 10 November 2006
Eight Nigerian hostages escaped and five others were released from an oil facility where they had been held since armed men raided the Italian-run pumping station earlier this week. Forty-eight Nigerian employees of Agip had been held in the south of the country since armed protesters overran and shut down Agip’s Tebidaba oil pumping station on Monday.