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/ 19 April 2006

Spears not yet ready for Super 14

SA Rugby board of directors has decided to halt the participation of the Southern Spears in the Vodacom Super 14 next year, and instead put measures in place to help the franchise and the region reach acceptable levels of readiness. The board said it was aware that the decision might not go down well with some members of the affected communities.

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/ 19 April 2006

Being loved for your body

Men, you can relax. You are no longer the enemy. Instead, judging by recent events in the United States, modern feminists have a much shapelier target in their sights — other women. Specifically, scantily clad women who use their sexuality to get ahead. I don’t know if this is a PR campaign to get men to finally pay attention to the cause, but it’s certainly stirring up trouble.

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/ 19 April 2006

Mandarin for starters

Brighton College, where the fees are £20 466 a year, has one thing in common with the state-funded Kingsford community school in the East End of London, where more than 50% of students qualify for free school meals. Both are committed to the teaching of Mandarin Chinese. At Kingsford, the subject has been compulsory for all pupils aged 13 and 14 since the school opened in September 2000.

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/ 19 April 2006

Ten out of ten

The number 10 has many meanings. Tests, movies, sex appeal and performance in sports events are often scored out of ten. Gymnasts all aspire to repeat Nadia Comaneci’s achievement in 1976 when she became the first to score a perfect 10 in an Olympic event. Similarly, sprinters aspire to run 100m in under 10 seconds. […]

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/ 19 April 2006

Bay of Pigs veteran hopes for last glimpse of Cuba

Forty-five years after taking part in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, Tomas Vazquez has no fight left in him, and simply dreams of seeing the island he loves one last time before he dies. ”I am old, I’m tired,” says Vazquez surrounded by Cuban memorabilia and a dozen former comrades-in-arms. ”My only hope is to be able to spend a week in Cuba, come back and die.”

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/ 19 April 2006

1968 it ain’t

For a moment, it was like old times. I was in Paris recently when hundreds of students occupied the Sorbonne and the riot police were called out in excessive numbers to turf them out. There have been sit-ins and strikes at many other French universities, a succession of angry street demonstrations and lots of eye-balling and scuffling between students and police.

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/ 19 April 2006

Togo’s high priest of voodoo and the tabloid press

”May our ancestors protect you and guide your every step,” newspaper editor and voodoo high priest Togbui Gnagblondjro III whispers to the children who have come to pay their respects. He is standing in front of the offices of his paper Tingo Tingo, one of the best-selling dailies in Togo, as he speaks the blessing, proving that he has little trouble combining his twin roles.