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/ 4 December 2006

Philippines fears 1 000 killed in typhoon’s wrath

The Philippines fears up to 1 000 people have been killed in landslides and flooding triggered by Typhoon Durian but officials said on Monday that many of the bodies might never be retrieved. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of national calamity after Durian, which was set to hit the Vietnamese coast on Monday.

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/ 4 December 2006

Furyk not interested in catching Tiger

World number two Jim Furyk admits he has played probably the best golf of his career in 2006, but that it still will not be good enough to catch Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings. Furyk closed out one of his most successful years with victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club on Sunday.

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/ 4 December 2006

Wall Street Journal to unveil new design

The Wall Street Journal, whose wide pages and text-rich look have long been an icon of the United States newspaper business, is about to undergo several changes that include cutting 7,6cm off its width. Along with the size reduction, which is equivalent to about one of its columns, the newspaper will add more colour and graphical elements, including greater use of photographs.

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/ 4 December 2006

Iran blocks access to top websites

Iran on Sunday shut down access to some of the world’s most popular websites. Users were unable to open popular sites including Amazon.com and YouTube following instructions to service providers to filter them. Similar edicts have been issued against Wikipedia, the internet encyclopaedia, IMDB.com, an online film database, and the New York Times site.

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/ 4 December 2006

Safin’s season sweetened by victory

Marat Safin said on Sunday that helping Russia to seal the Davis Cup with victory over Argentina had helped sweeten a bitter season and given him motivation to continue in his career. The former world number one started the year ranked 12th thanks largely to winning the 2005 Australian Open, but fell to outside the top 100 before climbing back up towards the top 20.

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/ 4 December 2006

E Cape ANC calls for third term for Mbeki

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape on Sunday passed a resolution encouraging Thabo Mbeki to stand for a third term as party leader. The resolution came at the provincial ANC’s three-yearly conference in Alice, a few hours after Mbeki loyalist Stone Sizani was named as the new provincial chairperson.

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/ 4 December 2006

Claims of militia links rock Colombian presidency

Colombia’s political establishment has been shaken by near-daily allegations of how President Alvaro Uribe’s allies worked with rightwing militias who for more than a decade used terror in pursuit of their own ends. The Supreme Court has ordered six pro-Uribe lawmakers, including the foreign minister’s brother, to answer questions about alleged links with the paramilitaries who are blamed for the murder of thousands of Colombians.

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/ 4 December 2006

Street-corner mechanics don’t like taxi recap

"This thing [the taxi recapitalisation programme] is going to kill our businesses once and for all. Where will we get customers if all taxis are new and are serviced in town?" asks mechanic and Soweto taxi owner Edward Singo. Singo is one of Gauteng’s vehicle mechanics in the informal minibus taxi support industry who is worried about the government’s taxi recapitalisation programme.