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/ 27 October 2007

Darfur peace talks begin without key rebels

Delegations gathered in Libya on Saturday to launch talks to end four-and-a-half years of conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region but the absence of key rebels cast doubt on whether negotiations could produce any meaningful deal. On the eve of the African Union-United Nations-mediated talks in Sirte, two main rebel groups said they would not attend.

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/ 27 October 2007

Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of plotting to invade

Eritrea accused arch-foe Ethiopia on Saturday of plotting to invade it ahead of a late-November deadline to mark their disputed border on maps. Analysts and diplomats fear heightened tensions on the Horn of Africa rivals’ frontier could erupt into a new conflict seven years after they fought a war that killed about 70 000 people.

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/ 27 October 2007

Mugabe rejects MDC’s violence claims

President Robert Mugabe has dismissed claims by the Zimbabwe opposition that its supporters are victims of politically motivated violence, state media reported on Saturday. Mugabe challenged the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to substantiate allegations of attacks on its followers, the state-run Herald newspaper reported.

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/ 27 October 2007

Boks thank Madiba for his magic

South Africa’s nationwide Rugby World Cup tour continued on Saturday with a visit to Soweto followed by an audience with former president Nelson Mandela. The Nobel Peace Prize winner greeted the team wearing the Boks’ gold and green shirt that he had famously worn to mark their first World Cup win in 1995.

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/ 27 October 2007

Free State turns orange ahead of Currie Cup final

The Free State may have lost the ”Orange” part of its name in the new South Africa, but Bloemfontein was a sea of orange as the city prepared for the Currie Cup final between the Cheetahs and the Lions on Saturday afternoon. Almost every vehicle in the city streets sported an orange Cheetahs flag, and orange was the colour to wear.

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/ 27 October 2007

Quake shakes Greek island

An earthquake measuring five on the Richter scale on Saturday shook the Greek island of Zakynthos, though no damage was immediately reported, the Geodynamic Observatory Institute in Athens said. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 8.32am local time was in the Ionian Sea about 330km south-west of Athens, the institute said.

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/ 27 October 2007

Soweto residents cheer on the Boks

Soweto residents left their houses to cheer on the Springbok rugby team on its victory parade through the Johannesburg township on Saturday morning. A handful of cheering residents, some still in their night-gowns, braved the rain to greet the Rugby World Cup winners as they passed the Maponya Mall in an open-top bus.

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/ 27 October 2007

Ramos resigns from Sevilla

Juande Ramos on Friday night resigned as manager of Sevilla, the Spanish team said, clearing the way for the award-winning Spaniard to join Tottenham. Sevilla said that Ramos had unilaterally rescinded his contract, presenting documents to this effect to senior team officials at the Sevilla stadium. The club referred to Ramos as ”the now former coach of Sevilla”.