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/ 19 November 2004
One would have thought that any society au fait with the physics of suicide bombing would have figured it out long ago: what goes up must come down. Certainly, unshakeable faith in divine providence goes a long way, but prefacing every prediction with “God willing” tends to deny certain realities about the effects on cranial bone of rapidly falling AK-47 bullets. Being faithful is one thing. Being a blithering idiot is quite another.
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/ 19 November 2004
Modern international football throws up all kinds of rubbish outside of the major competitions. Friendlies were becoming a farce. Fifa had to step in to reverse the trend of 11-man substitutions and non-matches that robbed the public – in the stands and on TV – of decent entertainment.
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/ 19 November 2004
Oh, to be a Chelsea fan now that winter’s here. When they play tough French outfit Paris St Germain in Champions League Group H at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, the scarf-and-Russian-hat wearing Blues brothers will be yawning with contentment. I mean, they’re perfect, aren’t they?
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/ 19 November 2004
Everton’s bubble refuses to burst as they remain in contention for European qualification. Football isn’t supposed to be like this. Everton are basically broke, their stadium ain’t huge, they were rubbish last season and we ”experts” like to get our predictions right.
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/ 19 November 2004
Another weekend of Coca-Cola Cup clashes is expected to provide soccer supporters with top action. The 16 premier league clubs that began the tournament a few weeks ago have been reduced to eight, fighting it out for the R2-million at stake and a chance to take part in one of the continental cup competitions.
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/ 19 November 2004
Jake White is a canny coach in many ways. He cancelled practice on Monday and had one brief session on Tuesday. Beat England at Twickenham on Saturday and everyone will be praising White’s laissez faire attitude: lose and he will discover for the first time exactly how onerous the task of coaching the Springboks can be.
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/ 18 November 2004
Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba was back in the dock on Thursday as a new corruption trial began on charges of stealing 000 (about R2,9-million) in state funds. A nattily-turned-out Chiluba sat for more than four hours, hearing testimony from the first three witnesses called in the trial.
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/ 18 November 2004
Paul Thabang Khumalo (26) was convicted in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday of murdering Diepkloof police station commissioner Superintendent Elias Mashau during an escape bid on May 11 2002. He was also convicted on five other charges, including two of attempted murder.
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/ 18 November 2004
Bovril, the quintessential British winter warming drink, is going vegetarian in a bid to widen its appeal and boost sales, particularly in Asia, its makers said on Thursday. Since it was first manufactured by a Scotsman in Canada to feed the French army more than 100 years ago, Bovril’s main ingredient has been beef extract.
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/ 18 November 2004
A leading Prague newspaper on Thursday highlighted the alleged historical errors and insults written by United States secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice in her 1984 book about communist Czechoslovakia’s Soviet-backed army. The Lidove Noviny newspaper chided Rice for calling Czechs ”passive”.