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/ 26 November 2007

The exception cannot rule our responses

Recognising the courage in Sisonke Msimang’s ”My father the ‘sex pest”’ (November 9) demands that we all take what she has to say seriously. I believe Msimang when she says her father was falsely accused of sexually harassing the woman who laid such charges against him. Like her, I value Audre Lorde’s words about the need to speak the truth publicly and deal with the risks, writes Pumla Dineo Gqola.

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/ 26 November 2007

Not all rape is the same

In 2005 I spoke to a traumatised filmmaker who had returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo where he interviewed a 19-year-old woman who 18 months before had been raped by 49 soldiers, one after the other. The pregnant teenager was then shot in the belly by the soldiers, killing her baby and rendering her sterile, writes journalist Charlene Smith.

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/ 26 November 2007

Putin accuses US of meddling in Russia vote

President Vladimir Putin accused Washington on Monday of plotting to undermine December parliamentary elections seen widely as a demonstration of his enduring power in Russia. Putin, drawing on resurgent nationalist sentiment ahead of Sunday’s poll, also said Russia must maintain its defences to discourage others from ”poking their snotty noses” in its affairs.

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/ 26 November 2007

Pathologist: No sign Princess Diana was pregnant

The body of Princess Diana showed no physical signs of pregnancy, Robert Chapman, the pathologist who carried out her post-mortem, told the inquest on Monday into her death. But he acknowledged that while her womb and ovaries did not show any of the normal signs of pregnancy, those would not have been seen if the pregnancy was less than three weeks old.

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/ 26 November 2007

New riots shock France

A French judge ordered a manslaughter inquiry on Monday after the death of two teenagers in a crash with police sparked a night of rioting in a flashpoint Paris suburb. The violence was some of the worst since the nationwide riots in 2005, which erupted in similar circumstances, prompting President Nicolas Sarkozy to appeal for calm.

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/ 26 November 2007

Govt declares Highveld regions air-pollution hot spots

The Highveld regions of eastern Gauteng and western Mpumalanga, including towns such as Witbank, Standerton and Boksburg, have been declared air-pollution hot spots. ”There is little doubt that people living and working in these areas do not enjoy air quality that is not harmful to their health and well-being,” the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said on Monday.

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/ 26 November 2007

James Dalton, wife reach interim settlement

Former Springbok hooker James Dalton and his wife, Andrea, who are involved in a bitter divorce battle, reached an interim settlement on Monday. The couple made headlines when Andrea Dalton (49) launched an urgent court application for a protection order against James (35), who she claimed physically and mentally abused her.