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/ 2 February 2007

Circumcision fever begins to sweep Swaziland

Male nurse Moshoeshoe Makhubu has helped in many circumcisions but is visibly nervous as he prepares to undergo the snip himself, a procedure he grudgingly admits may boost chances of remaining HIV-free. In Swaziland, staying clear of the virus is hard as close to 40% of adults are living with HIV/Aids, the highest infection rate anywhere in the world.

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/ 2 February 2007

Two South Africans killed in Turkey oil blast

The Turkish foreign ministry has advised the South African diplomatic mission that two South Africans died in a gas pipeline explosion at Izmik on Thursday. The mission was in the process of verifying the nationalities of the two deceased, ”with a view to advising the next of kin of these unfortunate developments”.

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/ 2 February 2007

Putin refuses to name favourite for successor

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday gave his most upbeat assessment yet of Russia’s booming economy, but refused to say who will run the world’s largest country when he steps down next year. Putin hailed Russia’s recent economic achievements and said that under his leadership, wages, living standards and pensions had all gone up.

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/ 2 February 2007

Aids: Zim to expand free roll-out programme

Aids-ravaged Zimbabwe plans to expand its free Aids drugs roll-out programme, reaching out to 100 000 more patients by the end of the year, the country’s health minister said. With only 60 000 people currently accessing life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy, Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa said "at least 300 000 people will have access to the drugs by 2010".

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/ 2 February 2007

Serena’s weepy classic

There is nothing that reduces me to a howling baby more than an unlikely sporting triumph — Kelly Holmes staring at the screen unsure that she has won her first Olympic gold before yelping with joy; Manchester City coming from 2-0 down to beat Gillingham at Wembley. Serena Williams provided those of us that way inclined with another all-time weepy classic last weekend.

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/ 2 February 2007

Arsenal’s ‘Beast’ carries his burden with ease

”Sometimes I’m amazed with European clubs — they spend fortunes on ordinary players just because they’re Brazilian.” This wry observation, from Tostao, a World Cup winner and one of today’s most-respected commentators on Brazilian football, might well apply to many talent-hungry European nations, but England is not one of them.