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/ 4 February 2005

Iran and Syria hit back at Bush

The Syrian and Iranian governments reacted angrily on Thursday to George Bush’s vow to confront them over their alleged harbouring of terrorists and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. The US president has identified Syria and Iran as the primary obstacles to the Bush administration’s declared mission to spread peace and democracy in the Middle East.

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/ 4 February 2005

Ndlovu answers the call

The lack of quality South African strikers, especially in the Premier Soccer League, is giving national coach Stuart Baxter and his selection panel endless headaches. So when a gem like Dynamos striker Sandile Ndlovu comes along and scores 11 goals in the league — three short of last season’s top goalscorer — someone is bound to notice.

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/ 4 February 2005

Cricket: Tied in knots

A curious thing happened in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night, just as Herschelle Gibbs was caught at short fine leg. Of course it was obscured in the excitement that followed — excitement first created, and then drowned in, by Justin Kemp. But it remained, nagging and only half-recognised, as Kemp preempted the wrong shot (Who’d have thought Darren Gough would bowl a yorker at the death? Fiend!)

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/ 4 February 2005

Diamond rush is forever on Kimberley plain

More than 130 years after South Africa’s first diamond rush, hundreds of prospectors are hoping to strike it rich on the booming international market by taking picks and shovels to the rocky terrain of the country’s veld. The weather-beaten workers sort small, heavy stones with hand-cranked washers and sieving pans — the same tools used in the diamond rush of 1871.

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/ 4 February 2005

AngloGold ‘aided’ warlord

AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) ”could arguably be in violation of the arms embargo” on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says a new United Nations report. The report alleges that the multinational provided housing for a rebel leader and paid the rebel group ”taxes”. The rebels, Front Nationaliste et Intégrationniste, control the area around the Kilomoto gold concessions being explored by AGA.