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/ 31 October 2005

The face of Kenya’s famine

Frail Musyimi Mbiti lies on a bed that is almost bare, in Mwingi District hospital. His little arms are tied to the bed rail with a dirty piece of cloth as a precautionary measure, failing which he would probably start gnawing on himself. This is the face of a famine that is eating its way through several parts of Kenya.

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/ 31 October 2005

Israel vows to press campaign against militants

Israel vowed on Monday to carry on its offensive against militants after the army shot dead three Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank, sparking condemnation from the Palestinian Authority. The latest deaths, during shootouts with Israeli troops in Kabatiya, came shortly after an Islamic Jihad official in the Gaza Strip said the group would abide by an informal truce following a deadly week of violence.

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/ 31 October 2005

Hundreds of refugees ‘disappear’ in Zimbabwe

Three hundred Somali and Ethiopian nationals who entered Zimbabwe as refugees over the past two months have slipped out of holding centres and disappeared, the state-controlled Herald reported on Monday. ”When we made a check on them [at the holding centres], they were nowhere to be found,” Chief Immigration Officer Elasto Mugwadi told the paper.

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/ 31 October 2005

December petrol-price cut seems likely

The Department of Minerals and Energy is likely to announce a cut of 22 cents per litre cut in the retail petrol price for the month of December, if the rand exchange rate and international petroleum prices remain at Friday’s levels. The retail petrol price is adjusted monthly on the first Wednesday of the month.

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/ 31 October 2005

September trade deficit is a ‘bad number’

South Africa recorded a deficit of R3,691-billion for its trade with non-Southern African Customs Union trading partners in September after a R3,243-billion deficit in August, according to the latest Customs and Excise figures released on Monday. Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the Efficient Group, said: "This is a bad number."

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/ 31 October 2005

Freight-train driver killed in derailment

A train driver who was trapped in a train engine for several hours after a derailment on Monday morning between Groot Marico and Swartruggens in the North West has died. Police spokesperson Inspector Erica Roos said the man was freed from the engine at about 10am. He was airlifted to a hospital, but died on the way.

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/ 31 October 2005

Doubts about SADC economic plans

Plans for Southern Africa’s economic integration are unlikely to be realised by 2012 at the current tempo of implementation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Monday at the opening of a Pretoria meeting of the South Africa-Mozambique Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation.