Patrick Moser
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/ 10 July 2007

US rednecks belly-flop at festival

Belly-flopping in the mud, tossing toilet seats and guzzling beer, average Joes celebrated the unrefined life of the American "redneck" at a wacky annual event initially held as a counterpart to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. A toothless man who calls himself "Freight Train" kicked off the event on Saturday.

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/ 23 May 2006

Business booms as alligator fear sweeps Florida

Juan Rios shrugged as he carved out a juicy tenderloin from a 2,5m alligator that was brought to him bound and gagged but still kicking. The gator scare that has swept Florida ”was long overdue,” says Rios (42) throwing the choice cut into a bloody bucketful of meat that only a few hours ago was a potentially deadly animal.

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/ 15 February 2006

Haiti’s front-runner rejects vote results

Front-runner René Préval on Tuesday decried ”massive fraud or gross errors” in Haiti’s presidential election, insisted he won outright, and urged supporters to continue protesting. The presidency promptly announced the formation of a commission to investigate the claims and called for final results of the February 7 election to be kept under wraps until the probe is completed.

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/ 14 February 2006

Demonstrations mar Haiti vote count

René Préval (63) was expected to appeal for calm in Haiti on Tuesday following protests over a vote count that put him short of the 50% he needs to be elected president in the first round. Tension remained high as Préval’s supporters insisted the frontrunner be declared president, despite the partial results.

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/ 12 February 2006

Tense wait for Haiti poll result

Haitians on Sunday nervously awaited the final outcome of presidential polls, and authorities called for calm after René Prevál, a champion the poor, fell below the 50% needed to win outright. With one fourth of the ballots still to be counted, Prevál, a former president, dominated the vote, but with 49,1%, he was almost one point short of the majority he needs to avoid going to a second round.

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/ 8 February 2006

Vote count under way in Haiti after tense elections

Vote counting began in Haiti on Tuesday, in some areas by candlelight, after elections that were free of the political violence many had feared but were marked by stampedes that left four dead. As the counting was under way in some centres late on Tuesday, voters elsewhere still waited their turn to fill ballots out at the small cardboard voting booths.