Neil Sands
Neil Sands is a journalist with AFP.
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/ 21 January 2006

Extreme heat takes its toll at Australian Open

A distressed Michaella Krajicek became the first victim of furnace conditions at the Australian Open on Saturday when heat exhaustion forced the Dutch teenager to concede her third-round match. The sight of the 17-year-old breaking down in the heat has again raised questions about the safety of conditions at the grand slam.

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/ 11 January 2006

Major polluters launch global warming talks

Some of the world’s worst polluting nations launched a controversial conference with international business chiefs in Sydney on Wednesday to seek high-tech solutions to global warming. Ministers from the United States, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia were meeting with executives from major mining and energy companies including Exxon Mobil, Rio Tinto and Peabody Energy.

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/ 6 January 2006

Zoos the new holy grail for star John Cleese

Comedian John Cleese owes a lot to the animal kingdom after building a career around the surreal Monty Python and achieving mainstream movie success with A Fish Called Wanda — now he’s decided to return the favour. The lanky Briton said on Friday that he had become a passionate supporter of zoological gardens in recent years and wanted to help their conservation work.

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/ 29 December 2005

Report says Asian airlines to hit turbulence

2006 will be a make-or-break year for airlines with big expansion plans in the Asian region, the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation said in its annual outlook report. With an unprecedented number of aircraft ordered by Asian airlines for delivery in 2007, the Sydney-based industry research group said next year represented "the quiet before the storm"..