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/ 27 February 2004

The Greatest

The legend of The Greatest is as healthy as ever, even if the man himself is not. Whenever an Olympic torch is needed to be held shakily aloft, Ali is there. Whenever Americans vote on the greatest sportsman ever, Muhammad Ali invariably edges out Dan Marino, Wayne Gretsky and Xena, Warrior Princess.

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/ 27 February 2004

The emperor’s new mac

It is no bad thing that the opening round of the Super 12 in this country has been overshadowed by the dispute between the South African Rugby Players Association and the South African Rugby Football Union. It enables us to ignore the fact that we actually don’t play the game to any great standard in this country any more.

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/ 27 February 2004

Enough already

If there’s any consolation for Graeme Smith, the one-day series now beyond the reach of his outclassed team, it’s that things could be much worse. For starters, he could be captaining Bangladesh. Ordinarily by now Smith would have made it clear that the guys were gutted but they are ready to give 110%.

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/ 27 February 2004

Downs in dumps

The sky used to be the limit for Sundowns, but of lately the sun seems to be setting on the former three-time league champions. Sundowns find themselves in a precarious position this season, 12th on the log and uncomfortably close to the relegation battle.

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/ 27 February 2004

Call for international force in Haiti

France has called for an ”immediate” international civilian force to restore order in Haiti and help stem the poverty-stricken Caribbean state’s slide into chaos. ”This force would be charged with assuring the restoration of public order and support actions in the field of the international community,” said Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

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/ 27 February 2004

French wine industry sours

France’s winemakers held emergency talks with Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin this week to demand urgent government action amid warnings that the country’s most emblematic industry is plunging into crisis. French wine exports are rumoured to have plummeted by nearly 10% last year, while domestic sales fell by almost 5%.

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/ 27 February 2004

Pentagon launches Halliburton probe

The Pentagon has launched a criminal investigation into possible fraud at Halliburton, the oil services firm formerly run by the United States Vice-President, Dick Cheney. The inquiry centres on allegations of overcharging for importing fuel from Kuwait into Iraq by Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).

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/ 27 February 2004

A just peace in Israel-Palestine

The first time I went to Israel, in January 2004, I had been invited to participate in a conference hosted by the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. What would I find? I did not, nor do I, believe that the idea of a Jewish state was motivated by colonial desires. There is no future for Israel as an exclusively Jewish state, writes Ivor Chipkin.

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/ 27 February 2004

Disaster looms

Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters. A secret report, suppressed by United States defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer newspaper, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ”Siberian” climate by 2020.