1,000 mile South African trek will raise money for children's charities
BBC Oct 18, 08 3:53 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Dapper duo Prince Harry and Prince William are setting off on a South African off-road motorbike ride to benefit charity, the BBC reports. The 1,000-mile trek is expected to raise about $450,000 for three charities, including Harry’s Sentebale, which focuses on children with AIDS in Lesotho. The princes made no promises about their off-road skill, and are “expecting to fall off many a time, every day," Harry said.
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Motlanthe viewed as able to ease tensions within ruling party
BBC Sep 25, 08 11:30 AM CDT
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Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as South Africa’s caretaker president today after winning three-quarters of a parliamentary ballot, the BBC reports. The left-leaning intellectual is seen as someone who can ease rifts between supporters of Jacob Zuma, head of the African National Congress party head, and former President Thabo Mbeki.
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The Post reflects on the closing stadium's mighty history
New York Post Sep 21, 08 5:09 PM CDT
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As Yankee Stadium hosts its last game today, the New York Post looks back at the greatest moments in “The House That Ruth Built." A smattering: April 18, 1923: Seventy-five thousand fans cheer Babe Ruth's three-run homer on opening day. April 27, 1947: Ruth says goodbye to the Bronx faithful, one year before succumbing to throat cancer. "People were crying," one fan said. "Especially the older men, which would normally not happen." Dec. 28, 1958: In the "greatest football game ever played," the Baltimore Colts top the New York Giants in overtime.
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South African legend celebrates 90th, calls on rich to do more
BBC Jul 18, 08 12:06 PM CDT
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Nelson Mandela turned 90 today, and he used the occasion to talk to reporters about the plight of South Africa’s poor, the BBC reports. “If you are poor, you are not likely to live long,” he said. “There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate.”
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US takes icon off terrorist watch list
CNN Jul 2, 08 4:52 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Former South African President Nelson Mandela is finally being removed from US terrorism watch lists , CNN reports. The 90-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was designated a terrorist because he battled against the old apartheid regime in South Africa. His name was never officially removed from the US lists until a new bill was signed into law yesterday by President Bush.
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Concert honoring 90th birthday draws huge crowd to London's Hyde Park
BBC Jun 27, 08 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A benefit concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday drew a constellation of music stars to London today, the BBC reports. Will Smith kicked off the festivities, and Leona Lewis was a hit with the crowd, but the star of the show, as expected, was Mandela. "Even as we celebrate, let us remind ourselves that our work is far from complete," he said.
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International condemnation falls on deaf ears
New York Times Jun 26, 08 12:58 PM CDT
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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s party maintains that tomorrow’s runoff election will go ahead as planned, despite international condemnation and the withdrawal of the opposition candidate, the New York Times reports. Former challenger Morgan Tsvangirai insists he wants negotiations between the two parties instead of polling. The president has implied that he will be open to negotiations after the vote, which the opposition will not accept.
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Former South African leader makes his first public comments on Zimbabwe
BBC Jun 25, 08 10:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Nelson Mandela broke his silence today and denounced the "tragic failure of leadership" of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. The influential former South African leader had previously held back so he wouldn't undermine the authority of mediator Thabo Mbeki, the BBC reports. "The world remains beset by so much human suffering," he said. "It is now in the hands of your generations to help rid the world of such suffering."
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Model citizen no longer, Campbell can't attend 90th-birthday concert
Daily Mail (UK) Jun 25, 08 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Nelson Mandela personally barred Naomi Campbell from a London concert to celebrate his 90th birthday Friday, the Daily Mail reports, days after the supermodel was sentenced for assaulting airport police officers. The anti-apartheid hero—whom Campbell calls her "honorary grandfather"—is said to be particularly disappointed that she was wearing a cap bearing his charity's logo at the time of her April arrest.
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Rice is embarrassed, she tells senators
USA Today May 1, 08 6:40 AM CDT
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Nelson Mandela may be a Nobel Peace Prize winner, former head of state, an icon of non-violence, and a symbol of the conquest of hope and endurance over oppression, but to the US federal government he's a potential terrorist. Incredibly, Mandela and all members of the African National Congress remain on terrorist watch lists, reports USA Today.
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Reps from 45 nations discuss using 'compassion' against war
Christian Science Monitor Mar 7, 08 2:54 PM CST
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Female community leaders from 45 nations—many of them embroiled in conflicts—are meeting at a unique week-long peace conference in India called "Making Way for the Feminine." The participants represent a religiously diverse group seeking ways for women to play a more prominent role in resolving conflicts and establishing peace, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
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Controversial figure now in line to be S. Africa's president
Reuters Dec 18, 07 6:41 PM CST
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Jacob Zuma is in line to become president of South Africa in 2009 after the country’s ruling party elected him leader today, Reuters reports. The beloved but controversial populist won easily over current President Thabo Mbeki, bringing jubilation from his supporters but raising questions about the country’s economic future, rifts within the ANC, and Mbeki’s remaining time in office.
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The top living geniuses dominate fields from physics to animation
Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 29, 07 4:38 PM CDT
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The Daily Telegraph jumps to point out that a quarter of its list of 100 living geniuses are British, and that that's one living genius per 2.5 million people—a higher proportion than for any other country. Americans still dominate the list, though, with a hefty 43 geniuses. Albert Hoffman, Swiss, chemist Tim Berners-Lee, British, computer scientist George Soros, American, investor and philanthropist
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Mandela marks opening of huge mall in once-
impoverished Soweto
BBC Sep 27, 07 3:19 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Nelson Mandela cut a ribbon today to mark the opening of a massive shopping mall in Soweto, the Johannesburg township that was the center of the struggle against apartheid, and his own home before he went to prison. The Maponya Mall, with 200 shops and an eight-screen theater, is the largest in southern Africa, the BBC reports.
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Annual list reveals mindset of this year's college freshmen
Beloit College Aug 21, 07 8:04 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Humvees are always a mere down payment away, and it's only natural to see stadiums named after big corporations. Your source of info on '60s icons is Oliver Stone movies and anything else you need to know comes right from "The Daily Show." Don't worry; you’re not suffering from a amnesia—you're a typical student entering college this fall.
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Opposition leader becomes rallying cry after beating
Los Angeles Times Mar 15, 07 1:46 PM CDT
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When Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's police force brutally beat the leader of an opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai, they might have unwittingly created their own Nelson Mandela. Photographs of a battered Tsvangirai being led to a hospital in police custody Tuesday circulated around the globe, prompting impassioned cries of protest.
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