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/ 21 November 2006
Nepal’s Maoist insurgents and interim government signed a landmark peace accord on Tuesday to end a decade of violence that has claimed at least 12Â 500 lives in the impoverished Himalayan nation. There was applause from hundreds of politicians, diplomats and journalists as rebel leader Prachanda and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala signed off on the deal.
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/ 21 November 2006
The leaders of neighbouring South Africa and Namibia pledged on Tuesday to open a new chapter in bilateral relations as they signed a joint trade agreement, largely focusing on energy supplies. After the first top-level meeting in three years, South Africa President Thabo Mbeki said he was determined not to allow a similar period to elapse before the next such talks.
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/ 21 November 2006
With proper investment and management, railways can be made the backbone of the transport system in South Africa, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday. ”We cannot be complacent until our economy is aggressively driven by an overall competitive and sustainable public transport system,” the minister said at the launch of the new ”10M5” trains in Pretoria.
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/ 21 November 2006
HIV infection is rising in every region of the world and most worryingly in countries such as Uganda and Thailand, which had been heralded as success stories in the fight against Aids, the United Nations said on Tuesday while praising South Africa’s recent pledge to do better against the disease.
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/ 21 November 2006
As interest rates rise, homeowners have an even bigger incentive to invest in their bonds, as they will be saving even more interest while benefiting from the secondary advantage of a shorter term of repayment. When interest rates rise, putting money into one’s bond guarantees a bigger interest saving.
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/ 21 November 2006
Lebanese Christian Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, an outspoken critic of Syria, was assassinated near Beirut on Tuesday, plunging Lebanon deeper into a crisis that threatens to destabilise the country. At least three gunmen rammed their car into Gemayel’s vehicle, then leapt out and riddled it with bullets, witnesses said.
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/ 21 November 2006
Almost two-thirds of South African black women entrepreneurs — more than one million business owners overall — have no access to credit or loans and represent a lucrative new market, a World Bank study found on Tuesday. About 38% of black South African women are formally banked compared with 44% of black men.
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/ 21 November 2006
A University of Johannesburg project hopes to track down the elusive genetic barcode of Earth’s plant species through research at the Kruger National Park, the university said on Tuesday. A small team of scientists aims to collect examples of all the plants in the park, said university spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen.
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/ 21 November 2006
The Democratic Alliance on Tuesday urged Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to establish a special task team to investigate the ”complete breakdown” of financial and operational management in the Limpopo health department. The Auditor General issued the department with a 21-page qualified audit report for 2005/06.
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/ 21 November 2006
Fire raged on Tuesday at the Supreme Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after clashes between police and supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba, who has filed a legal challenge after losing the country’s presidential election. Black smoke poured out of the court building at about 1pm local time.