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/ 18 October 2006
The invasion of Iraq prevented British forces from helping to secure Afghanistan sooner and has left a vacuum in the country for four years, the commander who has led the attack against the Taliban said. The delay in deploying Nato troops after the overthrow of the Taliban meant British soldiers faced a much tougher task now.
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/ 18 October 2006
Doctors in Gaza have reported previously unseen injuries from Israeli weapons that cause severe burning and leave deep internal wounds, often resulting in amputations or death. The injuries were first seen in July, when Israel launched operations in Gaza following the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.
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/ 18 October 2006
Iran’s Islamic government has opened a new front in its drive to stifle domestic political dissent and combat the influence of Western culture — by banning high-speed internet links. In a blow to the country’s estimated five million internet users, service providers have been told to restrict online speeds to 128 kilobytes a second.
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/ 18 October 2006
The rape charges faced by Israeli President Moshe Katsav are the latest, and most serious, in a string of scandals to embroil the nation’s politicians, signalling the erosion of honest government to some, proof of a thriving democracy to others. "Today, more and more, civil servants have the notion that anything can be done as along as you’re not caught," says Sullam Eli, director general of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.
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/ 18 October 2006
Blind people will for the first time be able to ”see” animals at the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, thanks to a new exhibition that opened on Wednesday. The exhibition allows visually handicapped people to touch animal trophies while a guide explains the animals’ features and habitat. The visitors are also able to hear the sound that the animal makes.
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/ 17 October 2006
Walking through the haphazard alleyways of near-downtown Johannesburg, the scents and sounds linger in the air, while the words of American writer Thomas Wolfe resound in my head. ”All things on Earth point home in old October,” Wolfe wrote in 1935. And when Ramadan (the Muslim fasting month) falls in October, Fordsburg, still ”home” for much of the city’s Muslim community, reflects his words in bounds.
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/ 17 October 2006
Christianity’s favourite rejoinder to gay marriages is usually based on the book of Leviticus, which regulates how believers should lead their lives. In particular the passage that says ”you shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination”. It seems conclusive enough.
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/ 17 October 2006
Rival taxi operators in Boksburg turned violent over taxi routes on Tuesday, Ekurhuleni metro police said. Six taxis were burnt and 40 impounded in the incident, which happened in the Holomisa informal settlement, Inspector Johnny Nhlapo said. Three people were arrested.
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/ 17 October 2006
A Malawian court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments by a coalition of local rights groups seeking to block ”Queen of Pop” Madonna’s fast-track adoption of a 13-month boy from the poor African country. ”The court wants to hear our locus standi and why we should be appointed guardians of the child,” Justin Dzodzi, chairperson of the Human Rights Consultative Committee, said.