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/ 14 December 2006
South Africa captain Graeme Smith has warned India to expect a trial by fire in the first Test on Friday. The South Africans have omitted spinners from their squad, confirming that they will attack the Indians with an all-pace attack on the traditionally fast and bouncy Wanderers pitch.
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/ 14 December 2006
The leadership of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) is experiencing a communication breakdown, Sanco deputy president Ruth Bhengu said on Thursday. ”We have not met since yesterday [Wednesday],” Bhengu said. Sanco’s fourth national conference at the University of the Free State was adjourned on Wednesday, its second day.
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/ 14 December 2006
Britain’s Tony Blair was quizzed as a witness on Thursday by police probing claims that political parties awarded state honours in return for loans. Analysts said it was a fresh embarrassment for a damaged prime minister. Blair was not cautioned by police about his rights before the interview, suggesting officers do not believe he has charges to answer.
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/ 14 December 2006
Four South African men abducted in Iraq at the weekend are still missing, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday. They are all employed by Safenet Security Services, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands and contracted to the United States Department of Defence.
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/ 14 December 2006
The African National Congress (ANC) has expelled its parliamentary chief whip, Mbulelo Goniwe, for sexual harassment, it announced on Thursday. This means he will no longer be an MP, nor will he serve as chief whip, said Kader Asmal, who chaired the ANC national disciplinary committee probe into the allegation against Goniwe.
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/ 14 December 2006
The presence of African Union troops in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region is needed more than ever despite a ”black week” for the embattled force, the AU mission’s spokesperson said on Thursday. ”Imagine for one moment the vacuum that would be created if the troops left Darfur,” Nureddin Mezni said.
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/ 14 December 2006
The world spent -billion battling disasters in 2005 but this was unevenly distributed, leaving many without help, the Red Cross Society said in Johannesburg on Thursday. ”A large chunk of this aid was spread unevenly,” said the chairperson of the national standing committee for disaster management of the South African Red Cross Society, Prince Monare.
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/ 14 December 2006
Zimbabwean police torture 33% of political detainees, according to a study on police brutality released in Johannesburg on Thursday. ”The Zimbabwean government has reverted to patterns of state control established under colonialism,” said Archbishop Pius Ncube of the Solidarity Peace Trust. These include mass arrests under repressive legislation.
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/ 14 December 2006
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has agreed an oil-output cut of 500Â 000 barrels per day, or 2%, delayed until February 1 when the northern winter is ending, Qatar’s oil minister said on Thursday, sending oil prices more than a dollar higher.