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/ 19 October 2005

Germany’s Merkel made into doll

She may not have a government to preside over yet, but incoming German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already been turned into a doll. Dressed in a version of the blue trouser suit and pink T-shirt she wore on the tense election night of September 18, the baby-faced miniature Merkel is on sale for €189 (R1 480).

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/ 19 October 2005

Defiant Saddam pleads not guilty

The trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity was adjourned on Wednesday to November 28. A defiant Saddam pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of crimes against humanity, refusing to recognise the court on the first day of a trial that could see him sentenced to death.

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/ 19 October 2005

Left-wing Polish government resigns

Poland’s left-wing government, led by Prime Minister Marek Belka, resigned on Wednesday as the Lower House met in a brief first session following its solid shift to the right in last month’s elections. President Aleksander Kwasniewski accepted the resignation at a ceremony at the presidential palace later on Wednesday.

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/ 19 October 2005

DRC elections ‘could spark mass violence’

Elections set for March in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could spark ”mass violence” if current conditions in the vast Central African state persist, an influential policy group warned on Wednesday. Failure to address problematic issues could plunge the nation into another cycle of violence, the Brussels-based Crisis Group said.

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/ 19 October 2005

Strong quake rocks eastern Japan

An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 6,2 rocked eastern Japan late on Wednesday, the meteorological agency said. The temblor shook buildings in Tokyo and nearby areas, including Ibaraki, Chiba and Fukushima prefectures, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

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/ 19 October 2005

Zambia starts traditional medicine HIV trials

Zambia on Wednesday began a three-month trial of traditional medicines on 25 HIV patients to test claims that they could cure the deadly virus. Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said the government would use World Health Organisation guidelines in the clinical trials of three traditional drugs made by traditional medical practitioners.

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/ 19 October 2005

Thousands of Somalis protest arrest of police chief

Thousands of angry Somalis took to the streets of bullet-scarred Mogadishu on Wednesday to protest the arrest this week in Sweden of the capital’s police chief on suspicion of genocide. ”I don’t know who assigned Sweden to be the judge in the Somali conflict,” said Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, the minister of national security in Somalia’s deeply split transitional government.