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/ 24 December 2006
Ethiopian forces, committed to defending an interim Somali government holed up in the town of Baidoa, launched air strikes on Sunday against Islamist fighters across the country, witnesses said. It was the first use of air strikes and the first public admission by Ethiopia of its involvement in Somalia, whose interim government is surrounded by heavily armed fighters of the powerful Somalia Islamic Courts Council.
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/ 24 December 2006
Australia go into the fourth Ashes Test beginning on Tuesday seeking to remain on track for a series whitewash that would be a fitting farewell to retiring bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Both Warne (37), Test cricket’s greatest wicket-taker, and McGrath (36) announced last week that they would retire from Test cricket at the end of the current Ashes series.
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/ 24 December 2006
Turkmen ruler Saparmurat Niyazov, whose elaborate cult of personality pervaded every aspect of life in the gas-rich Central Asian country, was laid to rest on Sunday in a lavish funeral attended by foreign dignitaries and throngs of tearful mourners.
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/ 24 December 2006
Arjen Robben’s injury time goal saw reigning champions Chelsea maintain the pressure on Premiership leaders Manchester United with a dramatic 3-2 win away to Wigan on Saturday. It looked as if United, 3-0 winners away to Aston Villa earlier on Saturday, would be left with a four-point lead after Wigan striker Emile Heskey scored twice to make it 2-2.
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/ 24 December 2006
Former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni will not be home for Christmas, the Department of Correctional Services said on Saturday. Yengeni was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in 2003 after being convicted on fraud charges.
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/ 24 December 2006
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday night held a surprise summit, reviving hopes that peace talks can take place after years of violence and mistrust. The announcement came after days of intense secret negotiations and was being described as a move to build confidence between the two men.
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/ 24 December 2006
Britain is set to witness a rise in crime rates and a big jump in the prison population, according to a confidential Downing Street memo leaked to he Sunday Times newspaper. The document, drawn up by Prime Minister Tony Blair’s strategy unit, warned that a slowdown in economic growth was set to trigger a rise in crime rates for the first time in 12 years.
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/ 24 December 2006
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich said on Saturday he was determined to make a cycling comeback despite the cloud of doping suspicion hanging over him. ”I know very well that returning to professional sport will be difficult but I’m determined to fight and to succeed,” said Ullrich on his website.
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/ 24 December 2006
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a tough resolution on Saturday evening authorising sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, bringing to an end two months of often fractious negotiations aimed at pressuring Tehran to clarify its nuclear ambitions.
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/ 24 December 2006
Somali Islamists claimed to have captured a frontline position from Ethiopian-backed government forces on Saturday while the embattled Somali prime minister warned that foreign ”terrorists” had joined the ranks of the Islamic forces. As fighting raged between the country’s rival powers for a fourth straight day, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said that 4Â 000 ”foreign fighters” had infiltrated the lawless country.