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/ 29 December 2005

Australia lays down the gauntlet

Australia set South Africa a historically-challenging 366 runs to win the second cricket Test after extraordinary batting fireworks by Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday. The two Queenslanders hammered a rapid-fire 124-run partnership in 66 minutes off 93 balls to set up a declaration at 321 for seven 40 minutes before tea on the fourth day.

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/ 29 December 2005

Scientists try to build tools to make better wine

Distinguishing fine wine from plonk is usually left to connoisseurs and winemakers, who rely on their senses, rough chemical measurements and the whims of nature to produce an exceptional tipple. But a professor, working with industry scientists in Chile, is hoping that computer models will identify the traits of good wine — eventually helping vintners produce more of it.

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/ 29 December 2005

Enron accountant pleads guilty

A key defendant in the Enron prosecution on Wednesday agreed a last-minute plea deal, potentially worsening the outlook for his former bosses Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling who are due to face criminal trial next month. Richard Causey, the former chief accountant at the bankrupt energy group, pleaded guilty to a single charge of securities fraud in exchange for a seven-year sentence.

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/ 29 December 2005

Zimbabweans deported by plane

South Africa has deported about 200 illegal Zimbabweans by chartered plane this week, an official said, in a move believed to have been prompted by the unavailability of bus and rail transport over the festive season. South Africa deports between 600 and 6 000 Zimbabweans every week from the Lindela repatriation centre west of Johannesburg.

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/ 29 December 2005

Britain prepares crackdown on oldest profession

Britain is preparing to launch a crackdown on prostitution in the New Year because the trade harms communities and supports drug dealers and abusers, the Home Office said on Wednesday. A prostitutes’ group warned, however, that the new zero-tolerance campaign would put the girls and women involved in even greater danger by pushing the industry further underground.

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/ 29 December 2005

Côte d’Ivoire gets new govt of national unity

War-divided Côte d’Ivoire announced a 32-member unity government that includes rebel, opposition party and ruling party ministers and represents a rare firm step toward reconciliation. Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, named earlier this month after mediators persuaded both warring sides to accept him, chose the Cabinet, which was announced by President Laurent Gbagbo’s office.