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/ 11 February 2006
A first taste of the tallest hills in Olympic history looms before ski jumpers at the Winter Games in the Italian Alps this weekend, unsettling even the most seasoned competitors. Czech Jakub Janda heads into the normal hill final at the 2006 Turin Games on Sunday with a narrow overall World Cup lead over five-times world champion Janne Ahonen of Finland.
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/ 11 February 2006
Shaun White, the United States teen redhead known as ”The Flying Tomato”, is the man to beat for the Turin Olympic halfpipe title, but top rivals are set to unleash a new trick that could grab the gold. Sunday’s snowboard showdown promises high-flying excitement measured in thrills and cheers just as the riders’ tricks are measured in rotation degrees and frontside or backside spins.
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/ 11 February 2006
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s life is in danger, a hospital spokesperson said on Saturday, after doctors discovered a ”serious deterioration” in his digestive tract. ”A serious deterioration of his digestive tract was discovered after an examination and doctors decided to operate,” said Ron Krumer, spokesperson for the Haddasah hospital.
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/ 11 February 2006
Nigerian officials battled to contain an outbreak of a deadly strain of bird flu on Saturday amid reports that it is spreading rapidly through poultry flocks and approaching the Niger border. Agricultural officials were preparing to quarantine and disinfect two farms where tens of thousands of birds have died on the outskirts of Kano
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/ 11 February 2006
Australia have crashed from unbeatable favourites to facing a must-win match in Sydney on Sunday against rejuvenated Sri Lanka to prevent losing a home triangular one-day cricket series for the first time in 13 years. Australia’s suicidal batting performance to hand Sri Lanka a stunning 22-run victory in the opening final in Adelaide on Friday puts skipper Ricky Ponting in a perilous situation.
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/ 11 February 2006
President Thabo Mbeki has appointed a commission of inquiry into the alleged corrupt involvement of South African companies in the United Nation’s oil-for-food programme. Advocate Michael Donen SC would chair the commission, with advocate Khehla Chauke and Senior Superintendent Lucy Moleko as additional members, the Presidency said on Friday.
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/ 11 February 2006
Groovy is over, hip is square, far out is long gone. Don’t worry, though — it’s cool. ”Cool” remains the gold standard of slang in the 21st century, as reliable as a blue-chip stock, surviving like few expressions ever in the constantly evolving English language. It has kept its cool through the centuries — even as its meaning changed drastically.
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/ 11 February 2006
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An application for the recusal of Judge Bernard Ngoepe from former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s rape trial is on the cards, media reports said on Saturday. Citing an unnamed legal source, the Saturday Star said an application for Ngoepe’s recusal would likely be discussed in the preparation of Zuma’s defence.
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/ 11 February 2006
It is a first of sorts for Bollywood: a film about wife swapping that involves no large-scale shimmering song and dance sequences. Mixed Doubles is, in short, a serious movie about a taboo subject from India’s film capital that has for decades relied on making people laugh or cry rather than think.
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/ 11 February 2006
The concept is medieval but the execution is very much 21st-century South Africa: a fortified town run as a miniature state. Rising from the winelands outside Cape Town, Heritage Park is enclosed by a computer-monitored fence that zaps intruders with 35 000 volts and alerts a corps of security guards.