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/ 11 September 2006

Public farewell planned for Irwin

A public farewell for Steve Irwin is likely to be held in a football stadium to accommodate his many fans, friends said on Monday after a private funeral for the Crocodile Hunter in which stories were told around a campfire. Irwin (44) had been swimming over a large stingray off Australia’s north-east coast last Monday when the ray lashed out and the serrated barb from its tail pierced his heart.

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/ 11 September 2006

No swastika mittens for Nato leaders

Hundreds of Latvians knitting 4 500 pairs of woolen mittens as gifts for the November Nato summit have been told to avoid a folk symbol said to ward off evil since it looks like a Nazi swastika. A spokesperson for the Nato leaders’ summit said the Latvian Thunder Cross, or Fire Cross, will not figure in the design of any of the thousands of unique pairs of mittens.

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/ 11 September 2006

Zimbabwe enlists army help to collect maize

Zimbabwe’s state grain utility said on Monday it was enlisting the help of the country’s defence forces to collect grain from farmers in a bid to boost lagging deliveries. Maize is a controlled commodity in Zimbabwe and is sold only to the Grain Marketing Board, which distributes it to private firms for milling.

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/ 11 September 2006

Dream year for Federer ends in New York triumph

Roger Federer freely admits that he even shocks himself at times. Speaking after winning the US Open and three Grand Slam events in the same year for the second time in three years, the Swiss star says he never expected to achieve so much. ”I always knew I was talented, I had potential and everything,” he said.

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/ 11 September 2006

Points penalty weighs on Milan

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted on Sunday his club’s eight-point penalty for match-fixing makes them rank outsiders for the Serie A title. Milan beat fellow offenders Lazio 2-1 in their first match of the new season to reduce their deficit to minus five points, but they failed to make any ground on title rivals Inter Milan and Roma, who both recorded wins on Saturday.