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/ 24 January 2008

Ivanovic downs Hantuchova

Serbian fourth seed Ana Ivanovic staged a barnstorming comeback to down Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday and set up an Australian Open final against Maria Sharapova. Ivanovic looked like wilting in humid conditions with the roof of the Rod Laver Arena closed due to rain.

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/ 24 January 2008

Federer faces Djokovic threat to supremacy

The tennis world has been yearning for someone to challenge Roger Federer’s record-breaking domination and Novak Djokovic is being touted as the one in Friday’s Australian Open semifinal. The peerless Swiss secured the number one ranking for an unprecedented 209th week after sweeping into a record 15th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.

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/ 24 January 2008

Red-hot Sharapova beats Jankovic

Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova crushed injured Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1 in a one-sided semifinal on Thursday to reach her second successive Australian Open final. It means Sharapova, a losing finalist here last year, will meet either Serbian third seed Ana Ivanovic or Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova in Saturday’s title decider.

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/ 24 January 2008

Canada pulls out of UN conference on racism

Canada on Wednesday bowed out of the United Nations 2009 conference on racism in Durban, saying it would likely ”degenerate into … expressions of intolerance and anti-Semitism”. Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney said that, to his knowledge, Canada was the first country to announce it would not take part.

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/ 24 January 2008

Skielik shooting: Cops on alert outside court

Police massed outside the Swartruggens Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in anticipation of the arrival of a large group of protesters ahead of the appearance of Johan Nel on murder charges. Nel (18) stands accused of killing four and injuring six residents of the Skielik informal settlement, about 10km outside Swartruggens in North West, last Monday.