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/ 31 December 2007

Defeated Kenyan challenger cries foul

Defeated opposition candidate Raila Odinga is set to press his claims of vote fraud on Monday at a Nairobi rally to declare him Kenya’s ”People’s President” despite threats of arrest. Mwai Kibaki was sworn in for a second term as Kenyan president on Sunday after being officially declared the winner.

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/ 31 December 2007

Pakistan elections hang in the balance

Pakistani officials were to meet on Monday to decide the fate of scheduled January 8 elections, after Benazir Bhutto’s party announced it would contest the vote despite her assassination. The vote, seen as a key step in the nuclear-armed nation’s transition back to democracy after eight years of military rule, has been thrown into disarray by her slaying.

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/ 31 December 2007

‘The father of internet in Africa’

Nii Narku Quaynor in December became the first African winner of the prestigious 2007 Postel Prize from the Internet Society, the international body that regulates the technical standards of the internet. On December 22, Quaynor, a professor at Cape-Coast University in Ghana, participated in a weekly pan-African Skypecast press conference.

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/ 30 December 2007

Tradition, stigma and piety

In the soft light before dawn hundreds of girls and women make their way down to the river. In giggling clusters they sing, ”Wezintombi hlolwane, ake niyeke ukupreventa [girls, get virginity tested and don’t use contraceptives].” They bathe in the cold water, which will wash away bad luck. As they splash, they exchange horror stories about the ritual to come, writes Nosimilo Ndlovu.

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/ 30 December 2007

Bhutto’s son takes over party mantle

The son of slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was chosen on Sunday to take the mantle of her party and immediately vowed to keep up what he called her struggle for democracy. At an emotional news conference where his father was named co-chair of the Pakistan People’s Party, 19-year-old Bilawal Bhutto said he was ready to lead.

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/ 30 December 2007

SA will bounce back, says Smith

When South Africa went into the first Test match against the West Indies at St George’s Park on Wednesday, they were ranked second in the world. ”We don’t take much notice of rankings, but we want to keep on winning Tests and challenge for the top spot when we tour Australia at the end of next year,” said Proteas captain Graeme Smith.

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/ 30 December 2007

Actor dies in motorcycle accident

South African actor Antonio Summerton was killed in a motorcycle accident in Roodepoort on Saturday night, metro police said on Sunday. Chief Superintendent Wayne Minaar said Summerton, who played a role in popular Afrikaans soap opera 7de Laan, was killed in an accident in Constantia Road in Roodepoort.

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/ 30 December 2007

Zim doctors, nurses strike over pay

Zimbabwe’s state-employed junior doctors and nurses are on strike for higher pay, putting further strain on the country’s crumbling public healthcare facilities. Doctors and nurses have staged a series of strikes in recent years as their salaries have been steadily eroded by the world’s highest inflation rate.