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/ 29 April 2008

Obama pastor reignites US debate on race

Barack Obama’s fiery former minister thrust his way back into the United States presidential campaign on Monday, again placing the divisive issue of race at the heart of the Democratic White House tussle. An unapologetic Reverend Jeremiah Wright hit back at weeks of criticism over his incendiary comments.

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/ 10 February 2008

Obama routs Clinton in White House race

Senator Barack Obama swept the board on Saturday, pummelling Hillary Clinton in three Democratic nominating contests as Republican Mike Huckabee gave John McCain a run for his money. Obama, who is locked in a battle with Clinton for the party’s nomination, won big in Washington state, Nebraska and Louisiana, outscoring the former first lady by two to one.

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/ 5 December 2007

Lo, Murdoch did bring the good news

Rupert Murdoch is out to prove that you can serve God and mammon after all. The tycoon’s Fox Entertainment has bought beliefnet, the largest online faith and spirituality network. The site is a portal that includes interviews with celebrities and politicians, social networking tools, inspirational stories and sacred text searches.

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/ 13 November 2007

Where there’s smoke, there’s mirrors

The European and American tradition of the political novel is deeply entrenched. From Emile Zola to Gore Vidal, the perceptions and attitudes of citizens in these smug old democracies have long been shaped. South Africa too has a rich history of political fiction, from Alan Paton to Nadine Gordimer, André Brink, Njabulo Ndebele and Lewis Nkosi. But there is, of course, a vast difference between the literary political novel and the "novel of politics", writes Marianne Thamm.

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/ 11 November 2007

Southern preacher could be saviour of Republicans

He is a former governor of Arkansas from a town called Hope. He has a nice line in campaign humour and speaks like a Deep South preacher. He is also running for president. But this is not Bill Clinton of 1992. This is Mike Huckabee, a long-shot Republican contender for the 2008 White House who has burst into the leading pack of the race.