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/ 31 December 2007
South Africa called up experienced batsman Neil McKenzie for the second Test against the West Indies starting at Newlands on Wednesday after their shock 128-run defeat in the first match in Port Elizabeth. McKenzie (32) is expected to end a three-and-a-half year exile from Test cricket and open the batting in place of out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs.
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/ 31 December 2007
North Korea appeared certain to miss a year-end deadline to finish disabling its atomic plants and declare all its nuclear programmes, a key element in a six-nation disarmament accord. After almost two decades of confrontation over its nuclear ambitions, the communist state in 2007 took an unprecedented step.
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/ 31 December 2007
The turn of the year can be both an inspiring and a daunting time for English Premier League clubs as they reach the end of a congested holiday-fixture programme and contemplate the challenges that lie ahead in the second half of the season. Someone who opts for the positive outlook is Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager.
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/ 31 December 2007
The wife of a top sports anchor on Chinese state television has created a buzz in the blogosphere by crashing an Olympic media event — to publicly accuse her husband of adultery. A video clip of Zhang Bin’s wife, Hu Ziwei, commandeering a microphone at a presentation of its coverage plans was easily one of the most viewed items on a Chinese video site on Monday.
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/ 31 December 2007
Rescue services were on Monday still searching for the missing Cessna 210 light aircraft, six days after it disappeared in the Baviaanskloof area of the Eastern Cape, authorities said. ”There is still no success but we are following up new leads and will continue searching again today [Monday],” said South African Search and Rescue Organisation head Charles Norval.
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/ 31 December 2007
President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson has accused former colonial power Britain and other Western countries of sabotaging Zimbabwe’s efforts to turn around its economy by offering a safe haven to criminals. The comments came after an MP from Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party, David Butau, fled to Britain last week.
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/ 31 December 2007
Zambia’s state telephone utility will spend about -million to lay a fibre-optic network and to lift its cellphone subscription to one million customers by June 2008, its managing director said. Simon Tembo said Cell-Z, a subsidiary of the state-owned Zamtel, hoped to increase its cellphone subscriber base from the current 300 000.
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/ 31 December 2007
Gold rallied to a seven-week high on Monday and close to a record high of on speculative buying driven by a weak United States dollar and tensions in Pakistan following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Gold has risen more than 30% this year — the biggest annual gain since 1979.
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/ 31 December 2007
Sri Lanka’s air force bombed a Tamil Tiger training base in the north and nine rebels and two soldiers were killed in ground battles, the military said on Monday. The air raids in the district of Mullaitivu and clashes in the northern district of Vavuniya and the north-western district of Mannar were the latest engagements in intensified fighting.
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/ 31 December 2007
Several Australian players may withdraw from next year’s tour to Pakistan even if Cricket Australia’s security team gives a positive account after its February pre-tour inspection, according to reports on Monday. The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and subsequent unrest have placed a question mark over the tour.