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/ 17 January 2005

Angolans pay the price for diamond mining

Like much of the hidden richness of Africa, the diamond mine at Catoca in eastern Angola strikes the rare visitor as a surprising oasis of wealth in the middle of a desert of poverty. The open-sky mineworks look like a huge upside-down pyramid where the Catoca Mining Company turns out more than three-million carats of rough diamond a year.

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/ 17 January 2005

Federer breezes past first opponent

Top-ranked Roger Federer ripped 54 winners past Fabrice Santoro on Monday, opening his Australian Open title defence with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory. In women’s first-round matches, Serena Williams had more trouble with her shoes than she did with Camille Pin, winning 6-1, 6-1 in the opening match on centre court.

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/ 17 January 2005

Zimbabwe in command against Bangladesh

Tatenda Taibu completed his maiden Test century to put Zimbabwe in a strong position on the fourth day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Monday. The Zimbabwean captain (21) cracked a solid 153 not out as Zimbabwe reached 285-9 in their second innings at lunch for an overall lead of 372 runs.

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/ 17 January 2005

Singh beats Els by one stroke

Vijay Singh rallied from a four-shot deficit heading into the final round to beat South Africa’s Ernie Els by one stroke and capture the ,8-million Sony Open on Sunday. World number one Singh shot a five-under-par 65 in another windswept day at Waialae course to register his 25th career victory on the PGA Tour.

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/ 17 January 2005

Agassi victorious despite pain

Four-time winner Andre Agassi fought through the pain barrier at the Australian Open on Monday for a comfortable straight-sets win over German qualifier Dieter Kindlmann in the first round. The American tennis great, using anti-inflammatories for a sore hip, erased doubts over his fitness during a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win over Kindlmann.

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/ 17 January 2005

Underdog takes out Moya

Spaniard Carlos Moya became the highest-profile first-round casualty at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday after being bundled out by unheralded compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Fifth-seeded Moya never got going against his rising Davis Cup hitting partner Garcia-Lopez, ranked 106th in the world.

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/ 17 January 2005

We can win it, say England

Good batting on Monday morning could still see England win the fourth Castle Lager/MTN cricket Test match against South Africa. That is the views of England’s opening bat Marcus Trescothick, who scored an undefeated 101 when bad light stopped play at the Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.

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/ 17 January 2005

Reserve Bank launches new SA banknotes

The South African Reserve Bank on Monday launched banknotes with improved security features which will go into circulation from February 1. The new banknotes will retain the "big five" animal motif on the front and the economic sector themes on the back. There will, however, be some design changes.

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/ 17 January 2005

Czech mayor taken for a ride

Tired of hearing reports of visitors paying grossly inflated prices for taxi rides in his city, the mayor of Prague disguised himself as an Italian visitor — and promptly unmasked a driver whose meter ran at more than six times the normal rate, a newspaper said on Friday.