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/ 5 September 2007
Pakistan’s Supreme Court began hearing legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf’s rule on Wednesday, adding to the woes the embattled United States ally faces as he prepares to secure another term. Musharraf hopes to get re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies between September 15 and October 15.
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/ 5 September 2007
The Arctic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented rate recently and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at a record low, scientists said on Tuesday night. Experts said they were ”stunned” by the loss of ice, with an area almost twice as big as Britain disappearing in the last week alone.
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/ 5 September 2007
Germany said on Wednesday it had foiled a ”massive” attack with the arrest of three Islamic extremists who were targeting airports, as well as bars and discotheques used by Americans. ”They were planning massive attacks,” Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms said.
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/ 5 September 2007
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in the Darfur region of western Sudan on Wednesday, promising to step up pressure for a political solution to the festering conflict. Ban told journalists he would push for progress in peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebel groups.
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/ 5 September 2007
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said on Wednesday that his country was no longer interested in joining the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in order to avoid ”overlapping” roles with other blocs. ”As a country we need to rationalise on which organisations to join in order to avoid overlaps,” he told journalists.
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/ 5 September 2007
A reader wrote to object to the Mail & Guardian‘s usage of the term ”Bushmen” for Southern Africa’s first people. Kobus Faasen quoted at length from a Dutch dictionary published in 1902, which said the word meant ”one who lives in the bushes” but had also been applied to apes, particularly the orangutan.
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/ 5 September 2007
South Africa’s business confidence slipped further in August to its lowest level in 2007, affected by global financial market turbulence, the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) said on Wednesday. The Sacob Business Confidence Index declined to 98,1 from 99,6 in July, confirming a downward trend as most of the indicator’s sub-indices deteriorated during the month.
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/ 5 September 2007
Reigning champions Germany go into the fifth women’s Soccer World Cup finals next week under huge pressure with the powerhouse United States team desperate to reclaim the trophy. The US, who won the tournament in 1991 and 1999, have drawn the short straw and are in the ”Group of Death” along with North Korea and Sweden, who lost to Germany in the final four years ago.
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/ 5 September 2007
India go to the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa hoping to mould a limited-overs team for the future as time ticks away for their ageing superstars. India are bracing for the time when the brilliant trio of Sachin Tendulkar (34), Sourav Ganguly (35) and Rahul Dravid (34) end their careers at almost the same time to leave a big void in the national team.
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/ 5 September 2007
With the stealth of a covert James Bond operation, the South African Football Association on Tuesday successfully ”smuggled” Benni McCarthy into the country for his first game for Bafana Bafana in 19 months. He will play in the African Nations Cup qualifier against Zambia at Newlands Stadium on Sunday.