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/ 5 March 2005

China and Japan launch race to the moon

When a rocket carrying a weather satellite blasted into orbit last weekend it did more than restore confidence in Japan’s battered space programme — it ignited talk of a space race with the country’s old rival, China. The emerging contest between these two Asian powers is already showing signs of ferocity.

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/ 5 March 2005

Goddess of US lifestyle leaves jail

Martha Stewart, who indoctrinated millions in the importance of pastel hues and perfectly turned pie crusts, left her prison cell to return to the kitchen of her palatial home yesterday to begin a new, and potentially even more dizzying, chapter in her life as America’s household goddess.

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/ 5 March 2005

Journey to the soul

Umbumbulo, a rural village near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, was the scene of brutal conflict in the early 1990s between the Inkatha Freedom Party and African National Congress, which left orphans, widows and a shattered community in its wake.

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/ 4 March 2005

Lights! Camera! Goalmouth action!

It may be the beautiful game, but until now football has proved to be resolutely uncinematic. Though sports such as baseball, horse racing and American football have all inspired classic movies, soccer has wallowed conspicuously in Hollywood’s second division. Yet this could be about to change.

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/ 4 March 2005

Pennant buffeted by hard knocks

Birmingham City have paved the way for Jermaine Pennant to play for them again this season, despite the winger being given a prison sentence for driving offences this week. The 22-year-old, who is on loan from Arsenal, has been jailed for three months for driving offences, a sentence that would effectively end his season.

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/ 4 March 2005

Zanu aims for two-thirds

The ruling Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe has set its sights on achieving a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on March 31. The party’s secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, told the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> that "judging by the situation on the ground and the turnout at our rallies, the opposition presence in Parliament will be cut to 15 seats".

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/ 4 March 2005

IFP calls for action on KZN violence

With five leaders killed since November last year, the Inkatha Freedom Party is calling for action on political violence in KwaZulu-Natal, but some think it might be opening a can of worms. KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele announced a commission of inquiry into violence in the province this week.

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/ 4 March 2005

Study warns of 89m new Aids infections in Africa

Governments could allow up to 89-million HIV/Aids infections to develop virtually unchallenged in Africa over the next 20 years by failing to take effective measures and boost funding, a United Nations study issued on Friday warned. Half of these could be averted if leaders take the right steps and significant foreign aid is forthcoming, said the report.

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/ 4 March 2005

Scaly sounds from Welsh jukebox

A practical joker scared Welsh pub-goers by placing a 60cm snake in the coin-return slot of a jukebox, it was reported on Friday. Fourteen-year-old publican’s daughter Stacey Caldwell got the fright of her life when she found a boa constrictor coiled up in the coin-return slot in the pub in Cym, South Wales.