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/ 11 February 2008

Argentina, Chile to host 2009 Dakar Rally

Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 Dakar Rally between January 3 and 18 with Buenos Aires as the start and finish city, organisers said on Monday. The move comes after the 2008 edition of the event was cancelled for the first time since its inception in 1979 due to security concerns after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania on December 24.

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/ 11 February 2008

Grammys: Kanye West, Aretha Franklin hold court

Two years ago, Kanye West’s Grammy afterparty was a booze-filled, late-night affair with 3 000 screaming guests, bikini-clad women — and his mother, Donda, in the house. He was more subdued at this year’s party, celebrating four Grammy wins on Sunday night in tribute to Donda West, but it was still a boozy, celeb-filled event.

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/ 11 February 2008

ANC MP denies being kicked off SAA flight

An African National Congress (ANC) MP on Monday denied being booted off a South African Airways (SAA) flight after an alleged drunken argument with another passenger. Frans Tlokwe Maserumule said he left the plane willingly after the incident, which took place before the flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town took off.

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/ 11 February 2008

Row over as Proteas touring squad named

South Africa announced their squad to tour Bangladesh on Monday after a week of disagreements among the country’s cricket officials. The squad, which is scheduled to leave for Bangladesh on Wednesday, was due to have been named last Tuesday. Disputes between the selectors and the president of Cricket South Africa, Norman Arendse, held up the process.

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/ 11 February 2008

DA backs Cosatu on SABC board challenge

The Democratic Alliance on Monday sided with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on a possible court challenge to the composition of the new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. Cosatu confirmed earlier it is considering legal action to have a new board appointed by the National Assembly.

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/ 11 February 2008

UN: Up to 600 000 displaced in Kenya

The United Nations’s top emergency relief official said on Monday that as many as 600 000 people had been displaced following violence sparked by Kenya’s disputed elections. ”We estimate that 300 000 people were displaced and are now in camps,” John Holmes said, adding: ”There are probably as many displaced who are not in camps.”

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/ 11 February 2008

Chad says no to more Darfur refugees

Chad said on Monday it would not accept any more refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region and would expel them unless the international community sent them back home or found another country to shelter them. Prime Minister Nouradine Delwa Kassire Coumakoye gave the warning as thousands of fresh Sudanese refugees crossed Chad’s eastern border.

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/ 11 February 2008

Hate thy neighbour: a demonic uhuru

Now, word in Dar es Salaam has it that some Tanzanians are kind of enjoying Kenya’s present plight. Of course this shall not be said nakedly. Tanzanians do not just speak nakedly. Words are well dressed. Kind eyes will open in concern and ask you: ”Ohhhh ndugu [brother], how bad things are for you … tell me, tell me more of the terrible things happening in your country. Argh … shame … God will provide …”