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/ 27 November 2006
Ghana’s cedi currency will shed four zeros next July, a central bank official said on Monday, and shoppers weary of carrying big bundles of bank notes welcomed the plan. Residents of the West African country complain a combination of low-denomination notes and the low value of the cedi obliges them to carry bags full of tattered currency.
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/ 27 November 2006
Israelis and Palestinians have seen truces collapse before. That is why no one wants to call the ceasefire in Gaza a turning point to reviving peace talks. If other hurdles can be crossed such as striking a deal to free an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza and if Palestinian factions can forge a unity government, the weekend truce should be a springboard to substantive contact between the two sides.
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/ 27 November 2006
The New York authorities were scrambling to contain an angry backlash on Sunday after police shot a group of three unarmed black men, killing one of them on his wedding day. The shooting took place after a stag party at a strip club in Queens, a few hours before Sean Bell (23) was due to marry the mother of his two small daughters.
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/ 27 November 2006
Dozens of British schools are using creationist instruction packs that teach intelligent design in science classes, the Guardian reported on Monday. The pack, which includes two DVDs and a manual, were sent to every secondary school in Britain on September 18 by a group called Truth in Science.
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/ 27 November 2006
A Chinese company has offered -billion for a 60% stake in Zimbabwe’s struggling state-owned steel firm, according to a report in the government-run Herald newspaper on Monday. The move would be Beijing’s biggest investment yet in the crisis-hit Southern African country.
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/ 27 November 2006
The anti-corruption department at German engineering giant Siemens tried to cover up evidence of bribery accounts several years ago, the <i>Sueddeutsche Zeitung</i> newspaper alleged on Monday in a report on a deepening investigation of the company.
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/ 27 November 2006
United Nations helicopters and peacekeepers on Monday opened fire against rebels after coming under attack in and around the volatile eastern town of Sake in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a spokesperson for the UN mission in the DRC said. Forces loyal to a rebel general seized part of Sake on Sunday in heavy fire fights with government soldiers.
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/ 27 November 2006
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has directed his government to immediately send his corruption-tainted predecessor Frederick Chiluba for cardiac treatment in South Africa, Chiluba’s spokesperson said on Monday. Mwanawasa authorised Chiluba to travel for treatment after his doctors said his cardiac condition had deteriorated and a heart transplant is now being considered.
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/ 27 November 2006
The Democratic Alliance (DA) must transform its reputation as the voice of the white minority before it can ever hope to challenge the African National Congress’s stranglehold on power, analysts said on Monday. Tony Leon stunned observers on Sunday when he announced he would step aside at the party conference in May next year.
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/ 27 November 2006
Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi vowed on Monday that his government, backed by Ethiopia, would take Mogadishu from powerful Islamists now controlling the city, fuelling war fears. With forces loyal to his weak administration and Ethiopian soldiers reinforcing the government seat of Baidoa, Gedi said he had an obligation to act.