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/ 4 December 2006
Former Australia coach Eddie Jones has become the first man to throw his hat into the ring publicly as the successor to former England trainer Andy Robinson. Jones, who took Australia to the World Cup final in 2003 where they lost to England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson’s last-minute drop goal, was sacked a year ago following a run of eight defeats in nine games.
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/ 4 December 2006
The swearing in on Wednesday of Joseph Kabila as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) first freely elected leader may be a turning point not only for this war-ravaged nation of 60-million but for all of Central Africa. If the 35-year-old president-elect has the will and the skill to fulfil his campaign pledge it could help bring peace to a devastated region.
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/ 4 December 2006
Lebanon’s army deployed more soldiers in Beirut on Monday after the killing of a pro-Syrian Shi’ite Muslim demonstrator raised fears anti-government protests could turn into sectarian violence. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa warned the crisis could worsen and indicated he had discussed ideas for a solution with Lebanese officials during a 24-hour visit to Beirut.
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/ 4 December 2006
The South African Communist Party (SACP) says it is outraged by media reports that South African Airways (SAA), the state airline, is planning to retrench close to 1Â 000 workers by December 2007. In a statement on Monday, the SACP — which is in alliance with the ruling African National Congress — said it had "a number of concerns about these planned retrenchments".
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/ 4 December 2006
Scotland Yard officers are to fly to Russia to interview three businessmen among the last people to have seen Alexander Litvinenko alive before he was given a huge dose of radioactive poison. Detectives of the newly-formed counter-terrorism command may arrive in Moscow as early as Monday to question the trio, as well as two other men who may have met Litvinenko during a visit to London.
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/ 4 December 2006
It’s funny how things pan out. When the great intellectual and stalwart of the struggle, a young man still only in his 30s known as Mzala, died in London somewhere in the 1980s, there was much talk about whether he should be buried where he had ”fallen” or whether his remains should have been repatriated to what was then a bitter South Africa to be laid to rest, as they say, at the place of his birth.
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/ 4 December 2006
Globs of rain spat from the slate sky as Echo Company trundled out of the base gates and into the Pech Valley. The supply convoy had dropped early Christmas mail and fresh artillery shells to troops at Camp Blessing, the United States base at the end of the steep-walled valley. Now it was heading home.
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/ 4 December 2006
The Competition Tribunal on Monday confirmed a consent order that imposed a R15-million fine on South African Airways (SAA) for anti-competitive practices, the tribunal said in a statement. The tribunal came to the decision after allegations made by Comair against SAA were investigated by the Competition Commission.
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/ 4 December 2006
Two former South African Defence Force soldiers were arrested for protesting in full military uniform outside the Lenz Military Base near Lenasia on Monday. Another five protesters — some also in camouflage uniform — are thought to have also been arrested when they went on to the base to speak to the commanding officer.
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/ 4 December 2006
Police found about 50 bodies with gunshot wounds in Baghdad over the past day, an Interior Ministry source said on Monday, a day after United Nations chief Kofi Annan declared Iraq’s plight as worse than civil war. Sectarian death squads have made the Iraqi capital a killing field and many of the bodies had been bound and tortured.