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/ 31 October 2003

BP’s pipe dream to come true

A controversial scheme led by the oil giant BP to build a huge, strategically important pipeline is about to win crucial backing, according to a leaked document.
The World Bank is due to approve a -million loan this week for a consortium to build an underground pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea to the Turkish port of Ceyhan via Georgia.

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/ 31 October 2003

Child sues Oz govt

An eight-year-old Iranian refugee whose plight ignited a bitter immigration row in Australia launched a civil suit this week against the government, claiming that he suffered severe mental health problems caused by his time in detention.

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/ 31 October 2003

Chirac’s European dilemma

French President Jacques Chirac ended two days of intense but fruitless talks with France’s main political leaders this week still facing one of the most painful dilemmas of his long political career: whether or not to call a referendum to ratify Europe’s new Constitution.

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/ 31 October 2003

Idi’s son returns

After 14 years in exile since the fall of his father’s regime, Taban Amin — the eldest son of Uganda’s infamous former dictator Idi Amin — returned home on Monday to a remarkably warm reception from the Ugandan government. For years Taban Amin had been living in Kinshasa.

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/ 31 October 2003

Sudden death for Straeuli

Rudolf Straeuli’s time in charge of the Springboks has reached the sudden death stage. If rumours are to be believed (and since that’s about all that emanates from SA Rugby these days some credence should be given to them) Straeuli’s troubled reign will end if South Africa finish worse than third at Rugby World Cup 2003.

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/ 31 October 2003

Samoans turn on the island style

A week ago, the prospect of a depleted Samoan side causing the greatest upset of the 2003 Rugby World Cup seemed highly unlikely. Then came South Africa’s lacklustre effort against Georgia in Sydney last Friday, a performance which will live uncomfortably in the memories of this generation of Springboks.

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/ 31 October 2003

Arsenal’s glass jaw is dazzling

An old Bill Tidy cartoon still raises a smile. The Oxfam truck has arrived in a scorched African desert carrying a load of red-and-white scarves. “I see Arsenal lost again,” sniffs a local. The humour might be lost on the premiership, where Arsenal do not lose that often, and indeed have yet to be beaten this season.