Marie Louise Gumuchian
Marie Louise Gumuchian works from London. Journalist based in London. Previously reporting from Libya, West/East Africa, Italy and Ireland Marie Louise Gumuchian has over 1705 followers on Twitter.
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/ 27 August 2007

Venice tourists must stay respectable or face fines

Watching thousands of tourists stroll through Venice’s Saint Mark’s Square, steward Giovanna is ready to step in at the first sign of unacceptable behaviour — picnics, bare torsos or discarded food wrappers. Speaking languages ranging from Chinese to Polish, Giovanna and six other women have been deployed by the lagoon city to improve decorum and cleanliness in the square Napoleon called ”the drawing room of Europe”.

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/ 30 January 2007

Somali govt calls reconciliation conference

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf agreed on Tuesday to call a broad conference of clan and religious leaders, triggering the release of European Union funding for an African peacekeeping force in Somalia. European Union aid chief Louis Michel told journalists after meeting Yusuf at an African summit in Addis Ababa that the conference would be held within weeks.

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/ 29 January 2007

Sudan loses AU chair over Darfur

Sudan lost the leadership of the African Union for a second time after the pan-African group on Monday awarded the rotating chair to Ghana because of widespread outrage over continuing bloodshed in Darfur. Alpha Oumar Konare, the AU’s top diplomat, told reporters Ghanaian President John Kufuor would become chairperson. ”By consensus it is President Kufuor.”