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/ 6 December 2007

Verbeek the new Australian national coach

Dutchman Pim Verbeek was unveiled on Thursday as the new coach of Australia, tasked with guiding them to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Verbeek and Frenchman Phillippe Troussier had been the front-runners for the job since another Dutchman, Dick Advocaat, reneged on his contract three weeks ago.

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/ 6 December 2007

Mayweather’s wealth, fame rooted in crime and poverty

Floyd Mayweather doesn’t mind playing a bad guy if it helps make him a rich guy because growing up around criminals has pushed him to become boxing’s top star and an undefeated champion. The unbeaten 30-year-old American trash talker puts his World Boxing Council welterweight crown at stake on Saturday against undefeated English rival Ricky Hatton.

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/ 6 December 2007

Mbeki wants debate on floor-crossing

President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday he hoped the African National Congress (ANC) would discuss floor-crossing at its national conference in Polokwane this month. Speaking in a South African Broadcasting Corporation radio interview, he said the ANC had been opposed to floor-crossing when the issue was first raised by opposition parties.

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/ 6 December 2007

Gunman kills nine at Nebraska shopping mall

A lone gunman killed eight people and wounded five others before taking his own life in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, the worst shooting in the United States since the Virginia Tech massacre earlier this year that left 33 dead. The killer, armed with a rifle, went on a rampage in a mall busy with Christmas shoppers.

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/ 6 December 2007

Canny Mugabe still a hero for many Africans

Robert Mugabe, a largely unwelcome guest of the European Union at a summit this weekend, is a hero in the eyes of many Africans for daring to stand up to the West and seize land from white farmers. Many in Europe have been left scratching their heads over how Zimbabwe’s president since independence still commands respect.

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/ 6 December 2007

Party not equal to state

On radio this week President Thabo Mbeki described the ANC leadership race as "a model of democracy in motion". As with many of his lofty pronouncements, no one in South Africa believes him. All the signs are that the ANC is in the grip of a kind of collective madness, in which almost any campaign tactic is seen as justified.