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/ 30 October 2007

UN extends sanctions on Côte d’Ivoire

The United Nations Security Council renewed arms and diamond sanctions against Côte d’Ivoire on Monday in a bid to make the West African country stick to the terms of a peace process. A resolution passed by the council extended the sanctions for a further year but promised to review them during that period.

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/ 29 October 2007

Bhutto wraps up visit to ancestral home

Former premier Benazir Bhutto on Monday wrapped up a visit to her ancestral home in southern Pakistan, hailing her supporters for defying security threats and promising them democracy. It was her first trip outside Karachi since twin suicide bombings on October 18 that targeted the two-time premier on her return from exile.

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/ 29 October 2007

Israel PM diagnosed with prostate cancer

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Monday he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer requiring surgery but vowed to stay in office, confident of a full recovery. ”Following the results of a regular check-up, I was diagnosed with initial signs of prostate cancer,” the 62-year-old prime minister told a packed news conference in Jerusalem.

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/ 29 October 2007

France scrambles to rein in Chad ‘adoption’ scandal

Paris scrambled on Monday to contain a row sparked by a French charity’s bid to airlift more than 100 children out of Chad, a key ally for Europe’s peacekeeping strategy in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region. Chad President Idriss Déby Itno reacted furiously to the botched operation, even suggesting the charity planned to sell the children to paedophiles.

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/ 29 October 2007

ANC: Which ANC?

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/321750/Icon_ANCconference.gif" align=left border=0></a>The mood ahead of the African National Congress (ANC) national conference in December is similar to that in the winter of 2005 when the ANC membership surprised the leadership and hijacked the policy discussion forum. Now, as then, the leadership appeared incapacitated by internal wrangling.

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/ 29 October 2007

Sale of the sanctuary

How do you save the Amazon rainforest? Easy. All you need is a bit of cash and a computer. Then go to the site of Cool Earth and, with a click of the mouse, you can ”Add to cart” half-an-acre (0,2ha) of endangered rainforest for £35. Cool Earth claims this will keep locked up 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide and protect 400 unique species.