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/ 15 October 2005

US official warns of bird-flu pandemic

The top United States health official trudged on Saturday through a Vietnamese market where live chickens are sold and slaughtered in an effort to get a very first-hand look at the difficulties of controlling bird flu. US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was finishing up a four-country tour of South-East Asia.

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/ 15 October 2005

Bush told Blair of ‘going beyond Iraq’

United States President George Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair shortly before the invasion of Iraq that he intended to target other countries, including Saudi Arabia, which, he implied, planned to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Bush said he ”wanted to go beyond Iraq in dealing with WMD proliferation”.

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/ 15 October 2005

US rejects British hurricane-relief meals

More than 400 000 packaged meals sent by Britain to feed victims of Hurricane Katrina have been sitting in a warehouse in Arkansas because of fears of mad-cow disease and a long-standing ban on British beef. The United States State Department is said to be quickly and quietly looking for a needy country to take the meals.

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/ 15 October 2005

Aftershocks hinder efforts to reach survivors

Dr Shahed Uddin was halfway through an operation when he felt it. A low, growling noise rose from the earth, followed by an ominous vibration at his feet. Another tremor. The medic, who was kneeling on the side of a mountain road, froze. So did his patient, a 13-year-old girl with a severe wound, who had been moaning with pain.

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/ 15 October 2005

Iraq votes on draft Constitution

Iraqis voted amid tight security on Saturday in a landmark referendum on a Constitution aimed at turning a new page on the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. About 15,5-million Iraqis were registered to vote on the charter, but a key question was how many would brave threats by insurgents who have vowed to disrupt the democratic process.

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/ 15 October 2005

EU waits to see if bird flu has reached Europe

The European Union was awaiting test results on Saturday that should show whether a lethal strain of bird flu that has killed more than 60 people in Asia has reached Europe. Bird flu has been detected in two Romanian villages and the tests will prove whether this is the fatal H5N1 strain. The deadly strain has been detected in Turkey.

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/ 14 October 2005

ANC dissidents protest in Western Cape

Western Cape African National Congress dissidents on Friday displayed soccer-style red cards to condemn the actions of provincial executive committee members during a protest at the ANC’s regional headquarters. The red and yellow cards targeted provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha and others.

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/ 14 October 2005

Sunni party attacked on eve of Iraqi referendum

Sunni insurgents launched five attacks against the largest Sunni Arab political party on the eve of Iraq’s crucial referendum on Friday, bombing and burning offices and the home of one of its leaders in retaliation after the group dropped its opposition to the draft Constitution. The reprisals came as Sunni and Shi’ite clerics gave their last advice to their followers in sermons during weekly Friday prayers.