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/ 17 November 2005
Israel’s Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said on Thursday that he wants to bring forward the country’s general elections to February next year. Sharon had previously opposed early elections, but announced his change of mind in an interview in the daily Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
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/ 17 November 2005
Vietnam is concerned over reports that disgraced 1970s rocker Gary Glitter is living in the country with a juvenile and is ”working very hard” to track him down, an official spokesperson said on Thursday. British tabloids reported earlier this week that Glitter was living in a seafront villa in Vung Tau with a 15-year-old girl but was now on the run.
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/ 17 November 2005
New Zealand backs coach Wayne Smith has insisted the All Blacks will be tested behind the scrum as well as up front when they face world champions England at Twickenham on Saturday. England overpowered Australia at the scrum in a 26-16 win last week but their backs failed to make the most of all the team’s possession.
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/ 17 November 2005
Northern Iraq’s oilfields are a prime target for rebels looking to disrupt the country’s economy, but now local authorities have come up with innovative ways of getting the vital liquid flowing. Oil installations and pipelines around the northern hub of Kirkuk have been targeted by at least 290 acts of sabotage since Saddam Hussein fell in April 2003.
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/ 17 November 2005
Football legends Pele and Maradona were headlining the guest list for the official unveiling in Doha on Thursday of the world’s biggest covered sports dome. The Aspire Academy of Sports Excellence venue is the work of French architect Roger Taillibert and funded by the oil and natural gas revenues which have turned this tiny Gulf state into one of the richest countries in the world.
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/ 17 November 2005
Turkey could be banned from the 2010 World Cup after Fifa launched an investigation into the violence that followed their play-off with Switzerland in Istanbul on Wednesday. Switzerland lost a dramatic second leg 4-2 in Istanbul on Wednesday but advanced to the 2006 finals in Germany thanks to the away goals rule, having won the first game in Bern 2-0.
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/ 17 November 2005
A referee who stopped a player protesting a decision by knocking him out is under investigation by the Bosnian football association. ”We are currently gathering reports on the incident,” Bosnian FA spokesperson Slavica Pecikoza said. The match was abandoned immediately after the incident.
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/ 17 November 2005
The parliamentary committee looking into the viability of the Gautrain needed to do a ”bit more work” before it decided on the project’s future, Gauteng finance minister, Paul Mashatile, said on Thursday. The parliamentary transport portfolio committee recently recommended that the Gautrain should not go ahead.
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/ 17 November 2005
Fidel Castro, the President of Cuba, has Parkinson’s disease, according to United States officials, who warn that his declining mental condition could lead to massive unrest. Doctors working for the CIA have concluded that Castro (79) the world’s longest-serving political leader, was diagnosed with the debilitating illness in 1998 and that his health has been fading for years.
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/ 17 November 2005
Bob Woodward, the Washington Post journalist who exposed Watergate and for 30 years hid the name of his source, Deep Throat, has become embroiled in the CIA leak inquiry after revealing under oath that a senior Bush official told him the identity of a secret agent.