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/ 20 November 2006

Health expert gives chronic-disease warning

Failure to deal with preventable chronic diseases such as those induced by smoking and overeating could erode the gains made in combating other types of disease, public health expert Dr Derek Yach said on Monday. Yach, director of global health programmes at the Rockefeller Foundation, was speaking at a conference in Cape Town.

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/ 20 November 2006

Man wounds pupils after storming German school

A masked man wearing explosives and brandishing rifles opened fire after storming a school in the western German town of Emsdetten on Monday, wounding at least 11 people before he committed suicide. Police identified the man as an 18-year old former pupil at the Scholl secondary school where the attack took place.

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/ 20 November 2006

Metro police chief shot at workers, says union

Embattled Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride shot at protesting municipal employees who were calling for him to be suspended, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) alleged on Monday. ”He was the first one to shoot at workers,” said Samwu’s East Rand branch secretary Koena Ramatlou of McBride after the protests.

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/ 20 November 2006

Annan urges action on biological-weapons threat

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Monday for stronger efforts to protect the world against biological weapons, which he said pose a growing threat due to advances in science and technology. Annan told the Convention on Biological Weapons that awareness of the dangers had been heightened by the twin global focus on terrorism and natural diseases.

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/ 20 November 2006

Eritrea opposes border demarcation plan

Eritrea on Monday opposed plans by an independent border panel to demarcate its contentious border with arch-rival Ethiopia on paper, saying the move offers no solution to the simmering row. Instead, Asmara said steps should be taken against Ethiopia, which it has blamed for blocking the implementation of the panel’s ruling.

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/ 20 November 2006

Bloodshed piles pressure on Iraqi PM, Bush

Gunmen killed a much-loved Iraqi comedian on Monday, as attacks and kidnaps of senior politicians and dozens of ordinary people prompted the defence minister to declare that Iraq was now in a ”state of war”. The past week has seen sectarian tensions come to a head inside Iraq’s national-unity government, which has yet to make headway on key issues six months after taking office on May 20.

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/ 20 November 2006

‘A step backwards’ for traditional medicine

The presidential task team on African traditional medicines has been compromised by the inclusion of Professor Herbert Vilakazi and advocate Christine Qunta, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. The inclusion of Vilakazi and Qunta is a giant step backwards in developing a regulatory framework for traditional medicines, DA spokesperson Gareth Morgan said.

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/ 20 November 2006

WHO: Africa’s hopes hinge on health care

Africa will never climb out of poverty unless devastating health challenges such as a ”silent epidemic” of maternal and child death are tackled, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a report released on Monday. Some of the biggest health problems Africans face are worsening despite attempts to reverse them, the African Regional Health report said.

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/ 20 November 2006

Gayle, Ganga put Windies in command

Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga forged an undefeated opening stand of 151 for the West Indies to cap a miserable day for Pakistan on day two of the second Test on Monday. Gayle (87) and Ganga (59) posted the first century opening stand for the West Indies in 20 Tests in Pakistan after the home side were bowled out for 357 with paceman Jerome Taylor taking 5-91.