Staff Reporter
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/ 2 December 2007

Kaka wins Ballon d’Or award

AC Milan’s Brazilian midfielder Kaka was named on Sunday as France Football‘s Player of the Year, winning the prestigious Ballon d’Or award. He succeeds Italy’s World Cup-winning captain and defender Fabio Cannavaro and comes two years after the last Brazilian winner of the trophy, Barcelona’s Ronaldinho.

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/ 2 December 2007

Nationwide leases plane for London flight

Grounded carrier Nationwide has leased an aircraft from Dutch airline KLM to fly passengers to London on Sunday night, said the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). However, Nationwide would have to prove that this aircraft complied with civil aviation safety requirements before it would be allowed to fly, said a CAA spokesperson.

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/ 2 December 2007

Sri Lanka says 52 killed in weekend clashes

At least 52 combatants were killed and 25 wounded in fresh fighting between security forces and Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka’s embattled north during the weekend, the Defence Ministry said Sunday. With the upsurge in clashes along the de facto frontlines separating the mini-state held by the guerrillas, the military stepped up the already tight security.

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/ 2 December 2007

Early poll a possibility, says Mbeki

<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>President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday that he would not rule out calling early general elections if he failed to win the leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC) party. "I have not thought about that one [early poll]. We haven’t got there yet. I don’t know. It’s possible, it’s possible, yes indeed," he said in an interview.

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/ 2 December 2007

Kiwis clinch Dubai Sevens title

South Africa were eliminated in the semifinal of the IRB Sevens World Series in Dubai on Saturday against New Zealand, who then went on to beat Fiji 31-21 in the final. New Zealand, who had earlier tackled South Africa out of contention to win their semifinal clash 12-7, ran in three converted tries in the first half of the final.

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/ 2 December 2007

Bali’s road map for the planet’s survival

World leaders will converge on the tropical island of Bali this week for the start of negotiations that experts say could be the last chance to save the Earth from catastrophic climate change. The United Nations conference of 191 countries is the beginning of talks to agree a new international treaty to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.

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/ 2 December 2007

Court raps granny for assaulting young man

A court in southern Norway on Friday dismissed assault claims filed by an 82-year-old woman against a young man, finding instead that she had attacked him first, media reported. The woman had accused a 29-year-old man of causing her a painful injury when he violently twisted her arm during a parking dispute, the daily <i>Toensberg Blad</i> reported.

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/ 2 December 2007

Fight against Aids: ‘We must do more’

Activists and global leaders used World Aids Day on Saturday to warn against complacency in fighting the disease and called on governments to fill a multibillion-dollar funding gap. ”We have made tangible and remarkable progress on all these fronts. But we must do more,” United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

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/ 2 December 2007

Mandela: We must break the cycle of new HIV infections

Slowing new HIV infections is the key to combating the Aids pandemic, Nelson Mandela told the tens of thousands gathered for his 46664 benefit concert to mark World Aids Day on Saturday. The Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg erupted in screams before falling silent as Mandela urged people to stand up and take the fight against Aids into their own hands.