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/ 20 December 2005
Jacques Rudolph defied Australia’s attack with an unbeaten century to help South Africa salvage a draw in the opening cricket Test at the Waca ground in Perth on Tuesday. Rudolph batted throughout the day, glueing the Proteas’ second innings together with a masterful 102 not out from 283 balls in 431 minutes.
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/ 20 December 2005
A toxic slick floating down a river from China for more than a month was due to reach the Russian city of Khabarovsk within hours and experts were making last-minute preparations to deal with the poison. Khabarovsk residents have been stocking up on drinking water and making other arrangements for weeks and the city was calm as the benzene slick floated to within around 15km of the city limits.
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/ 20 December 2005
Nine democracy activists were remanded in custody in Swaziland on Tuesday after brief court appearances in connection with a spate of petrol bombings in Africa’s last absolute monarchy. A police spokesperson said the nine — all members of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement — were rounded up over the weekend.
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/ 20 December 2005
The latest gaming and electronic devices have forced this year’s festive-season shoppers to dig deeper into their pockets. But high prices have not deterred South Africans from scratching digital cameras, MP3 players, PlayStation Portable consoles or the latest iPod accessories from their Christmas wish lists.
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/ 20 December 2005
An announcement to take the National Council of Provinces’ decision to do away with cross-border municipalities possibly to the Constitutional Court was well received by Khutsong residents at a public meeting on Monday. Sabelo Ngwane of the SA Communist Party’s Young Communist League announced the decision when he addressed hundreds of Khutsong residents at a local stadium.
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/ 20 December 2005
Tillakaratne Dilshan’s defiant 65 helped Sri Lanka recover from two early shocks on Tuesday to avert the follow-on in the third and final Test match against India. Dilshan saw the departure of overnight partner Jehan Mubarak (13) and Farveez Maharoof (4) as Sri Lanka slumped to 155 for seven before Malinga Bhandara (28 not out) provided the support that helped the tourists avoid the follow-on.
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/ 20 December 2005
Volunteers and conservation staff were on Tuesday battling to save more than 120 pilot whales stranded on a beach on the South Island of New Zealand. The whales became stranded on Puponga Beach near Farewell Spit in the north of the South Island early on Tuesday afternoon as the tide went out.
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/ 20 December 2005
The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) on Monday welcomed the resignation of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s pilot, Franz Gabriel, from Denel, saying his exposure to the country’s ”extremely sophisticated” information on weaponry was ”unacceptable”.
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/ 20 December 2005
The director of a Dutch-based independent radio station broadcasting in Zimbabwe was arrested on Monday just hours after the release of three of the station’s journalists. The police detained John Masuku, director of the Voice of the People radio station, at the Harare central police station where he had been summoned.
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/ 20 December 2005
The 2005 formula one season was a watershed. Fernando Alonso became formula one’s youngest champion at 24, ending seven-time winner Michael Schumacher’s string of five straight season titles. The Spaniard won three of the first four races — and four of the first seven — and then protected the lead. The Renault driver wound up with seven wins, the same as McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen.