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/ 20 February 2006

Mbeki gets tough over troubled Khutsong

President Thabo Mbeki has instructed police to clamp down on violent protests by Khutsong residents in the run-up to the municipal elections, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Monday. Mbeki said the state will not tolerate any criminal activity that violates people’s constitutional right to vote.

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/ 20 February 2006

Underground sounds heard at landslide site

Rescue workers in the Philippines refused to give up hope of finding survivors in an elementary school buried by up to 35m of mud, digging into the night on Monday after detecting what the provincial governor called "signs of life". Technicians used high-tech gear such as seismic sensors alongside shovels and rescue dogs.

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/ 20 February 2006

Police tear-gas Ugandan opposition supporters

Uganda’s riot police fired tear gas and a water cannon at opposition supporters gathering on Monday at the final pre-election rally for presidential candidate Kizza Besigye. About 2 000 supporters had gathered in central Kampala, with riot police standing by. Young men in the crowd taunted the police, who responded with tear gas.

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/ 20 February 2006

Iraq warned against creating sectarian govt

The United States ambassador to Iraq warned Iraqi politicians on Monday they risk a loss of American support if they do not establish a genuine national unity government, saying the US will not invest its resources in institutions run by sectarians. Meanwhile, at least 24 people were killed by bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere.

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/ 20 February 2006

Anti-rape groups in stats scrum

The South African Police Service and the Zion Christian Church in the Vhembe district of Limpopo last year joined forces on a project that claims to have reduced rape in the area by 7%. But social workers at four local victim empowerment projects say they have never heard of the project and other groups argue that the figures are higher than statistics suggest.