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/ 16 January 2006

MDC hullabaloo has roots in Zimbabwe’s past

Writing in South African newspaper The Star this month, Basildon Peta pointed out — quite unnecessarily — that Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change vice-president Gibson Sibanda belongs to the ”minority Ndebele tribe” while disputed party president Morgan Tsvangirai comes from ”the main Shona tribal group”. Therein lies the riddle of Zimbabwean politics.

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/ 16 January 2006

Hundreds protest UN call on Côte d’Ivoire

Hundreds of demonstrators brought Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to a halt on Monday with protests at a call by an international United Nations-mandated group for Parliament to be wound up following the end of its term last month. Barricades were erected across streets in every district of the West African country’s economic capital.

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/ 15 January 2006

Cats vs Bulls: Rude awakening for coaches

If the two warm-up games between the Cats and Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday was used as a yardstick for the coaches to measure how much work still needs to be done before the Super 14 competition next month, they received a rude awakening. However, both teams were understandably rusty after their festive season breaks.

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/ 15 January 2006

Another child killed in Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally suffered its third fatality in six days on Saturday but the gruelling event’s race director insisted it’s as safe as it’s possible to make it. A 12-year-old boy died after being hit by an assistance lorry on the 14th and penultimate stage as the two-week race headed to the Senegalese capital. On Friday, Boubacar Diallo (10) ran into the path of a competing car in Guinea and was killed.

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/ 15 January 2006

Buthelezi: ‘Floor-crossing is like the HI virus’

”The Inkatha Freedom Party is blowing the whistle to stop corruption, the party is prepared to govern and we seek victory in the upcoming local government elections,” IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi said in Durban on Sunday. Speaking at the launch of the party’s local government election campaign, Buthelezi said: ”Democracy empowers us with a right to change who governs.”

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/ 15 January 2006

World Cup gala head demands Fifa apology

The man who was to direct the multi-million euro World Cup gala, which was cancelled in acrimonious circumstances, demanded an apology from football world governing body Fifa on Saturday. Andre Heller, the Austrian who was to direct the 90-minute show in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on June 7, two days before the start of the World Cup, said the decision to call off the extravaganza had caused a public outcry.

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/ 15 January 2006

The botched attempt to kill bin Laden’s deputy

The missiles were deadly accurate. In the pitch dark of a night in Pakistan’s sparsely populated North West Frontier Province, they not only located the three targeted houses on the outskirts of the village of Damadola Burkanday but squarely struck their hujra, the large rooms traditionally used by Pashtun tribesmen to accommodate guests.

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/ 15 January 2006

Treason case sends shock waves through Swaziland

Treason charges against a group of opposition activists for allegedly bombing state offices in Africa’s last absolute monarchy are sending rumblings through the peaceful hills of Swaziland. For King Mswati III, known as the ”ngwenyama” (lion) of the nation, this is probably the biggest political headache since he ascended the throne two decades ago to continue his father’s rule by decree.