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/ 31 October 2006
Sunday’s run-off election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was democratic, peaceful, credible and transparent, the South African election observer team in the country said on Tuesday. Head of the South African observers, Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George, said the Congolese were able to freely bring out their vote.
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/ 31 October 2006
Iraqi troops dragged prisoners to a pit dug out of the desert sands and shot them two-by-two under the lights of a waiting bulldozer, a survivor of Saddam Hussein’s alleged genocide said on Tuesday. The ousted Iraqi leader sat impassively in the dock as five witness gave their testimony.
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/ 31 October 2006
Sir Nicholas Stern, the man whose recent report on the grim economic realities of climate change has rung alarm bells around the world, is to brief the South African government on his findings early next year. ”[He] has accepted an invitation … to present the findings of his review … in January 2007,” the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said in a statement on Tuesday.
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/ 31 October 2006
Drug smugglers in Pakistan tried to use a South African High Commission official envelope to courier high-grade heroin to Johannesburg, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. Department spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the High Commission in Islamabad was alerted to the failed attempt by the Pakistani Anti-Narcotic Force and a courier company.
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/ 31 October 2006
Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica on Tuesday welcomed Cabinet’s decision to approve the restructuring of the R25-billion electricity distribution industry. ”Cabinet took a major and indeed historic decision on the 25th October,” said Sonjica, who was briefing industry and government stakeholders, as well as the media, in Johannesburg.
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/ 31 October 2006
Iraqi forces have captured slain al-Qaeda chief Abu Musa al-Zarqawi’s personal cameraman, defence ministry spokesperson Major General Ibrahim Shaker said on Tuesday. ”We arrested him in Baquba four days ago. We found important documents and videos with him,” the spokesperson said, confirming the arrest of Khalid al-Hayani, an Iraqi militant.
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/ 31 October 2006
Visitors to South Africa’s trendy Cape Town waterfront this summer can get iced drinks, served in glasses made of ice, while they relax on ice amid ice sculptures. The city is the latest worldwide to play host to an ”ice lounge”, which saw local organisers import 45 tons of structural ice from Canada and manufacture a further 10 tons locally for the construction.
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/ 31 October 2006
The impact of the second national operator, Neotel, was likely to be felt by Christmas, said South African Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. Answering a question from African National Congress MP Elliott Sibiya in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday afternoon, she noted that it had already been launched at the end of August.
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/ 31 October 2006
Four days of devastating floods along Ethiopia’s desolate eastern border have killed more than 60 people, and prowling crocodiles were hampering rescue efforts as rain continued to fall, officials said on Tuesday. The floods began on Friday when the Shebelle River overflowed its banks in the Ogaden region, more than 1 000km from the capital, Addis Ababa.
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/ 31 October 2006
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille and provincial local government and housing minister Richard Dyantyi have reached a compromise over the future of the city government in the Mother City, it was announced at a press conference called by national Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi on Tuesday.