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/ 15 January 2006

How the mean streets of New York were tamed

It was a gritty slice of New York life. Several hundred angry police officers gathered outside a Bronx courthouse. Inside, two alleged cop killers were charged with the cold-blooded shooting of Officer Daniel Enchautegui. As weeping relatives of the accused were bundled through the hostile crowd, Pat Lynch, president of the policemen’s union, bellowed: ”Now it’s time to make sure there’s justice!” The officers roared their approval.

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/ 15 January 2006

Black middle class boosts car sales in South Africa

Sales of new cars in South Africa have reached all-time highs, boosted by an emerging black middle class, once under apartheid’s thumb and now playing an increasingly important role in the economy. The National Automobile Association of South Africa announced this week that car sales figures for the first time shot past the half-a-million-mark in 2005.

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/ 14 January 2006

France’s Alphand wins 13th stage of Dakar Rally

Luc Alphand of France maintained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally, winning the 13th stage as the race entered Senegal from Guinea, where one competitor accidently struck and killed a boy who crossed the track. Alphand finished the stage in four hours, 30 minutes, 15 seconds, with Spain’s Carlos Sainz and South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers trailing.

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/ 14 January 2006

Langeveldt joins SA injury list

South Africa’s injury woes worsened ahead of Sunday’s tri-series clash with Australia as seamer Charl Langeveldt joined fast bowlers Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini on the sidelines with a groin strain. Langeveldt (31) was able to bowl in the nets on Saturday but he was unable to shake off the problem which has hampered him since the end of the Test series.

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/ 14 January 2006

Pakistan probes reports al-Qaeda number two killed

Pakistan is investigating whether al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a deadly United States air strike on a village near the Afghan border, Pakistani and US officials said on Saturday. US Central Intelligence Agency sources said they had unconfirmed indications that a high-level target was killed by a US Predator drone in Pakistan.

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/ 14 January 2006

Opposition officials sue party leader in Zimbabwe

Five top officials in Zimbabwe’s divided main opposition party filed a multimillion-dollar defamation suit against Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, their lawyer said on Friday. Tsvangirai gave notice he would defend the action, and has 10 days to submit a summary of his rebuttal before a date can be set for a hearing.

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/ 14 January 2006

Health minister condemns orgy in hospital

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has condemned a nursing student orgy that reportedly took place in the children’s ward of a KwaZulu-Natal hospital. ”Under no circumstances can we allow such horrible incidents to occur in our facilities,” the minister said in a statement on Friday. Media reports said that two female and three male trainee nurses were expelled after the incident.

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/ 14 January 2006

Iran threatens to block inspectors

Iran on Friday upped the ante in the dispute over its nuclear programme by threatening to block inspections of its facilities if it is referred to the United Nations security council. The Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said the Islamic regime would retaliate by ending voluntary snap checks by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.