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/ 18 April 2008

‘Reform the ICC, or we walk’

Cricket faces the threat of the biggest revolt in its history, with elite players ready to call for a breakaway from the International Cricket Council (ICC). Fica, the international players’ union, will demand far-reaching reform of the ICC, the global governing body it considers to be paralysed by the dominance of India’s Board of Control for Cricket.

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/ 18 April 2008

Bulls caught flat-footed

With bearded behemoth Louis Moolman at lock, knuckle-dusters made flesh like Thys Lourens on the flank, Bugs Bunny’s lovechild Naas Botha at flyhalf and the effortless class of Johan Heunis at fullback, who was going to tell the Bulls they were getting it wrong? Not while the Currie Cup titles mounted up.

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/ 18 April 2008

Pass the baton

Thabo Mbeki has spent years — and a good deal of jet fuel — in his efforts to convince African and world leaders that his gradual approach to resolving the crisis in Zimbabwe offered the only real prospect of success. He came close to being right. But then Mbeki’s studied neutrality began again to look like support for Mugabe.

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/ 18 April 2008

Children of despair

Zimbabwean kids fleeing their desperate circumstances are finding a hostile welcome in South Africa, writes Eddie Matsangaise. One of them is Isaac, whom Eddie says can’t be more than seven or eight years old. It’s hard to tell his exact age because he’s so dirty and scrawny and his face is dark and haggard from the sun.

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/ 18 April 2008

‘Give us a chance to change’

Although China remains a tyranny, since the 1970s it has become a significantly less brutal one. Li Datong, a journalist who was sacked last year as a magazine editor for crossing the low threshold of political criticism that the government will tolerate, said: "We have progressed. For instance, it is possible for you to meet me, which could not have happened in Mao’s time."

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/ 18 April 2008

Mugabe’s good son

Imagine if Thabo Mbeki were as brave and as articulate as Barack Obama. Imagine if he were able to say about Robert Mugabe, as Obama did about his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, that while he disagreed with him, he would not renounce him: ”As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me.”