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/ 23 December 2006
Malaysia’s worst floods in 37 years have displaced nearly 100Â 000 people amid food shortages, looting and criticism on Saturday of the government’s handling of the crisis. Heavy rain in neighbouring Indonesia also drove thousands from their homes. At least one person was killed and 12 are missing.
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/ 23 December 2006
It could not have been better for all involved. That was the general consensus at the Northwood-Crusaders cricket ground on Friday where the touring India cricket side began a two-day friendly practice match against a KwaZulu-Natal Invitation XI. On a hot and humid day, the atmosphere was outstanding.
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/ 23 December 2006
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) can ban Pitso Mosimane for life from games and affairs under its jurisdiction, but its brazen declaration that its recent suspension of the beleaguered Supersport United and past interim Bafana Bafana coach applied to ”all soccer” is invalid.
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/ 23 December 2006
Proteas fast-bowler Makhaya Ntini is for the second consecutive year South Africa’s most popular sports personality among adults (those older than 18 years), according to the 2006 BMI Adult Sporttrack. He was voted ahead of soccer players Lucas Radebe, Benny McCarthy, Siyabonga Nomvete and Doctor Khumalo.
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/ 23 December 2006
A world ranking of 67th is not exactly the kind of credentials pending World Cup hosts should be proud to display — but, at least, the footballers of Bafana Bafana can hold their heads above water when it comes to the ”battle of the sexes”.
Their female equivalents, Banyana Banyana, are placed 71st in the women’s world rankings.
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/ 23 December 2006
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Friday he is encouraged that Sudan’s president will soon agree to a ceasefire in conflict-wracked Darfur, renewed peace efforts, and a hybrid African Union-UN force. Annan reported the optimistic assessment from a special envoy he sent to Khartoum.
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/ 23 December 2006
A speech posted on the internet on Friday by the purported leader of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group has offered United States troops a one-month truce for withdrawing from Iraq without being attacked. The leader of the Islamic State of Iraq also called on former officers in Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army to join his militia.
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/ 23 December 2006
There is an ineluctable rule of politics in developing democratic states: ruling liberation parties tend to grow in influence from election to election and the opposition declines. It holds true for South Africa’s ruling African National Congress — and for the current bleak picture for the opposition.
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/ 23 December 2006
A 6,1-magnitude earthquake struck India’s Andaman islands on Saturday, prompting residents fearful of a repeat of the deadly 2004 tsunami to flee their homes, geologists and witnesses said. The earthquake occurred at 7.50pm GMT on Friday, about 115km south-southwest of the local capital, Port Blair.
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/ 23 December 2006
Couples and single people will not be allowed to visit Table Mountain after 10pm during the festive season, media reports said on Friday. Said the general manager of Cape Town Tourism, Marriette du Toit: ”It was in the best interest of those visiting Table Mountain that the decision to close the roads to individuals and couples was made.”