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/ 19 December 2007
Right-wing businessman Lee Myung-bak won South Korea’s presidential election by a landslide on Wednesday with his promises to make voters better off and stand up to North Korea, TV exit polls showed. The wide margin of victory put to rest concerns in his camp that a probe in allegations of fraud by Lee might deter voters.
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/ 19 December 2007
Rescue efforts are under way in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after a fleet of boats capsized on the Tshuapa river, killing at least 45 people, reports said on Wednesday. About 80 people were on board the motorised canoes when they went under on Sunday night.
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/ 19 December 2007
An Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son Friday and ordered that he instead be called Gregory after the saint whose feast day he was born on. ”I think it is ridiculous they even opened a case about it,” said the family’s lawyer, Paola Rossi.
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/ 19 December 2007
A pedestrian has been charged with damaging property after walking over a car that was parked illegally on the sidewalk in Greece’s congested capital. ”I could not get past the vehicle, a four-wheel drive, which had been parked right on the pavement so I got angry and just walked over it, slightly denting its hood,” said Tasos Pouliasis.
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/ 19 December 2007
Monkeys performed about as well as college students at mental addition, United States researchers said on Monday in a finding that suggests non-verbal maths skills are not unique to humans. The research follows the finding by Japanese researchers that young chimpanzees performed better than human adults at a memory game.
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/ 19 December 2007
A KwaZulu-Natal street child — who allegedly stole money, clothing and jewellery from a car — was picked up, thrown into the boot of the car and then assaulted, police said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Captain Edmund Singh said the incident took place in Chatsworth’s Crofdene area in Durban at about 9.15pm.
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/ 19 December 2007
Civilians fleeing violence in east Democratic Republic of Congo are facing a shortage of medical care as disease outbreaks begin to plague the troubled region, the charity Médecins sans Frontières said on Wednesday. Fighting between government troops and forces loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda have pushed civilians from their homes several times in ongoing flare-ups.
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/ 19 December 2007
Uganda’s government is to buy a ,2-million Gulfstream jet for President Yoweri Museveni, media reported on Wednesday, and critics questioned whether the poor East African country could afford it. A committee of lawmakers endorsed the proposal, moving it closer to parliamentary approval.
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/ 19 December 2007
A mother and her 19-month-old baby were dumped on the side of a road in Pietermaritzburg after being hijacked, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Superintendent Henry Budhram said the father was dropped off at a different location.
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/ 19 December 2007
Local authorities have arrested at least 100 Ugandans for failing to build toilets in their homes in the midst of a cholera epidemic that has killed eight people and infected 164, state media reported on Wednesday. ”We cannot watch as people die [of cholera],” said north-western Bulisa district administrator Norbert Turyahikayo.