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/ 21 November 2006

West Ham United agree to takeover bid

English Premiership club West Ham United announced on Tuesday that it has accepted a takeover bid from an Icelandic group, which values the team at £85-million. WH Holding Limited, controlled by Eggert Magnusson, president of the Football Association of Iceland, and investor Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, offered 421 pence per share for the east London club.

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/ 21 November 2006

McGrath defends Australia’s oldies

An indignant Glenn McGrath says Australia doesn’t need an all-rounder to ease the workload on his 36-year-old body in Thursday’s Ashes Test opener against England at the Gabba. There have been suggestions that the selection of all-rounder Shane Watson, now in doubt with a hamstring injury, was made to reduce the bowling burden on McGrath and 37-year-old leg-spinner Shane Warne.

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/ 21 November 2006

Gaza rockets hit Israeli town during UN visit

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired rockets into an Israeli town on Tuesday during a visit by the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, critically wounding one person, witnesses and ambulance workers said. Commissioner Louise Arbour, on a tour of the Palestinian territories and Israel, was unhurt in the attack in Sderot.

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/ 21 November 2006

Nike ceases orders from Pakistan company

Nike said on Monday it is ending orders from a Pakistan-based supplier of hand-stitched soccer balls, Saga Sports, because of ”significant” labour violations. Nike said the decision to end its relationship with Saga followed a six-month investigation. ”This contract factory has persistently broken its commitments,” said Nike CEO and president Mark Parker.

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/ 21 November 2006

Altered cottonseed could feed millions

Scientists have found a way to use the cotton plant, long a source of fibre for clothing but inedible by humans, to feed potentially half a billion people a year. Plant biotechnologist Keerti Rathore and colleagues reported on Monday they have genetically altered the plant to reduce the levels of the toxic chemical gossypol.

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/ 21 November 2006

Irish brickies win praise for Cape housing project

A community of shack dwellers in the dusty Cape Town township of Mfuleni gathered on Monday to thank a group of Irish volunteers building brick homes to replace their corrugated iron ones. A group of around 350 volunteers are in Africa’s southernmost city this week to help build 50 houses in Mfuleni as part of a larger project to build 720 houses.

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/ 21 November 2006

A fresh look at our watchdogs

How far can Parliament go in recommending changes in the structure and functioning of Chapter 9 and related institutions? At most it could suggest constitutional amendments to change appointment procedures and areas of responsibility, and perhaps even the continued existence of some bodies.