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/ 29 November 2006
A haunting tune plays from a radio at a crowded flea market behind Zambia’s main business district, accompanied by a baritone voice urging Africa to rise up against Aids. ”That’s KK, it’s very nice, very moving,” a trader says of the song released by Zambia’s former president Kenneth Kaunda.
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/ 29 November 2006
The United States Embassy in Argentina rejected reports that it had told President George Bush’s twin daughters to leave the country after a widely publicised purse-snatching incident. ABC News reported that embassy officials had ”strongly suggested” that the twins cut short their visit to due to security concerns.
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/ 29 November 2006
Beijing Olympics organisers are selling over half the tickets for the 2008 Games at less than each to allow as many people as possible a chance to attend the event. Tickets to competition events would be priced from 30 to 1 000 yuan (,85 to ), with preliminary sessions starting from 30 yuan and finals tickets costing 60 yuan.
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/ 29 November 2006
The prestigious United States journal Science will tighten safeguards to
prevent a repeat of the 2005 episode when it was forced to retract fraudulent stem-cell research by a South Korean scientist, the magazine’s editor said. Editor Donald Kennedy said on Tuesday that he accepted the conclusions of a panel looking into the fiasco and vowed to elaborate new rules to prevent such fraud.
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/ 29 November 2006
The suspension and ”golden handshake” for former Eastern Cape Treasury superintendent-general Monde Tom cost R4-million, the Public Service Accountability Monitor said on Wednesday. Tom’s 15 month suspension and confidential settlement package were revealed in the Auditor General’s report on the treasury’s 2005/06 annual financial statements.
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/ 29 November 2006
A strong undersea earthquake struck near the Moluccas islands in northern Indonesia on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said on its website, but there were no reports of a tsunami or casualties. The agency put the strength of the quake, which struck at 10.32am (1.32am GMT), at a magnitude of 6,1.
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/ 29 November 2006
The Catholic Church has told the Kenyan government to ban the advertisement and distribution of condoms ahead of World Aids Day.
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/ 29 November 2006
South Africa will unveil a new plan aimed at fighting its HIV/Aids crisis on Friday, seeking to calm bitter debate. South Africa’s Aids battle has been two-fold, with doctors and community groups struggling to help an estimated five million people infected with the virus and government officials fending off critics.
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/ 29 November 2006
Business confidence in South Africa edged lower in the fourth quarter of 2006 but manufacturers and retailers remained upbeat despite higher interest rates. Africa’s biggest economy has grown strongly and the confidence data pointed to the third quarter’s 4,7% expansion in gross domestic product being sustained in the current quarter, a poll showed on Wednesday.
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/ 29 November 2006
The Central African Republic this week cleared its arrears to the World Bank, thanks to a loan by the French government and a grant by the World Bank, that will restore its ties with international donors, a senior bank official said on Tuesday. The move comes as the former French colony tries to resurrect ties with the international community after years of political and economic instability.