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/ 21 December 2007
From death threats to deadly falls, many quirky news items in 2007 dealt with the bizarre things than animals get up to around the world. We round up some of the most entertaining items, concerning travelling hedgehogs, chocolate eggs and shooting dogs.
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/ 21 December 2007
Thabo Mbeki has often been accused in post-apartheid South Africa of carrying a racial chip on his shoulder. I once asked one of the only white ANC cadres billeted in Lusaka in the Eighties if he ever encountered anything like this in exile. He responded thoughtfully by comparing Mbeki with Chris Hani.
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/ 21 December 2007
With the first showdown only days away, United States presidential hopefuls will take a break for Christmas and let their television ads propagate some holiday cheer, but not exempt of political undertones. As expected, it looks like all the candidates have cleared their agendas of rallies and meetings at least on December 25, though the first contest, the Iowa caucuses, is held only nine days later.
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/ 21 December 2007
Living in Afghanistan, the world’s unrivalled producer of heroin, Faqirullah has no problem finding drugs to feed his habit. What concerns him is getting the cash to buy them. No matter how difficult, the 27-year-old says he has to find the equivalent of $4 to $6 for his daily fix. Faqirullah, who goes by a single name, is one of a growing number of Afghan drug addicts.
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/ 21 December 2007
Brigitte Mabandla, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, scores a double GG — and that stand for ”get going”. She and her boss, Mbeki, suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, apparently for party-political reasons, with blatant disregard for the Constitution and the values it represents.
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/ 21 December 2007
Africa’s political and economic balance sheet continues to move into the black. The long-awaited European Union-Africa Summit in Lisbon earlier this month heard that when leaders of the two continents last met in Cairo seven years ago, there were no fewer than 14 conflicts raging on African soil — making up 50% of violent deaths on the planet.
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/ 21 December 2007
Did you know Belgium was for sale? Or that Switzerland invaded Liechtenstein? Heard the one about the bank who issued a cat with a credit card? Or how about the British man who claimed he had made the world’s first cellphone call from Mount Everest? He said it was ”cold”. Here is a selection of wild and wonderful news items from 2007.
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/ 21 December 2007
The good, the bad, and the ugly. How did South Africa’s Cabinet members fare this year? Starting at the top, President Thabo Mbeki is now officially a lame-duck. In Polokwane this week, he was trounced by African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma in the race for the party’s top job. While Mbeki’s legacy will be written in time, he has not had a great year.
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/ 21 December 2007
Which Brazilian footballer, who plays for AC Milan, recently won the European player of the year award? Who is the new Anglican archbishop? What will South Africa’s newest coal power station in Limpopo be called? Who received the first Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership this year? These are some of the brain teasers for our end-of-year quiz.