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/ 23 November 2006

‘I’m an African,’ says Van Zyl Slabbert

Identity is still an important debate in South Africa, said political analyst Frederik van Zyl Slabbert on Wednesday. ”There is no legal definition of a black [person], there is no legal definition of an African,” said Van Zyl Slabbert. He said he was an African ”because my president told me I’m an African”.

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/ 23 November 2006

Donors pledge $60m to help African combatants

Donor nations and organisations pledged around -million to an international effort to help former combatants in war-ravaged Central Africa back to civilian life, officials said on Wednesday after an aid meeting in Paris. The figure represents roughly half of the estimated funding still required for a programme totalling about -million, officials said.

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/ 23 November 2006

Kallis leads South Africa to victory

South Africa — spearheaded by Jacques Kallis — achieved a remarkable 157 run victory over India in the second MTN one-day international at Kingsmead in Durban, to take a one-nil lead in the five match series. The first match, at the Wanderers on Sunday, was washed out by rain.

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/ 23 November 2006

Cosmonaut shanks ball from space station

A Russian cosmonaut-turned-golfer took his game out of this world on Wednesday, knocking a ball from the International Space Station in a publicity stunt for a Canadian golf club manufacturer. Aired live on Nasa television, Mikhail Tyurin whacked the ball during a space walk outside the station after struggling to get into position with the help of a United States astronaut.

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/ 23 November 2006

Cops handed over Kebble’s car

It was the police themselves who handed Brett Kebble’s blood-spattered car to the mining magnate’s security company shortly after his murder, the Star reported on Thursday. The paper quoted private investigator Andre Burger as saying the Mercedes-Benz S600 was handed to him by investigating officer Captain Johan Diedericks.

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/ 23 November 2006

Vatican view on condoms begins to shift

The Roman Catholic church has taken the first step towards what could be a historic shift away from its total ban on the use of condoms. Pope Benedict XVI’s ”health minister” is understood to be urging him to accept that in restricted circumstances — specifically the prevention of HIV/Aids — barrier contraception is the lesser of two evils.

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/ 23 November 2006

Forex scam haunts Mugabe

President Robert Mugabe’s fight against corruption is closing in on his closest confidants. The 82-year-old leader is in a quandary and is unwilling to pass a routine political directive for the arrest and prosecution of Zanu-PF officials allegedly involved in illegal foreign currency dealings.

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/ 23 November 2006

There are no winners

So much for the first week of democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Supporters of the losing presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba clashed with police and the army outside the Supreme Court in Kinshasa, where judges were deliberating his challenge. The judges were forced to flee the building when it was set alight. There can be no more graphic symbol of a lack of respect for the nascent system than this.