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/ 16 October 2005

Bird-flu threat tops EU agenda

The growing threat of lethal bird flu spreading across Europe will soar to the top of European Union leaders’ menu this week, after the deadly Asian strain of the virus landed on the continent for the first time. The H5N1 virus was confirmed in Romania at the weekend, only two days after its presence was identified in Turkey.

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/ 16 October 2005

Malawian famine starts claiming young victims

United Nations agencies are warning that five million of Malawi’s 12-million people are facing hunger after the worst drought in more than a decade drastically cut production of maize, the staple food in this Southern African country. President Bingu wa Mutharika on Saturday declared the food crisis a national disaster.

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/ 16 October 2005

Taylor’s hopes of returning home may be dashed

Hopes that former Liberian president Charles Taylor’s party would perform well on his behalf have been dashed by early results from last week’s vote, which could undermine his vow to return to Liberia instead of facing war-crimes charges. Taylor remains a mythic figure in his war-ravaged country two years since he fled into exile.

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/ 16 October 2005

Egypt orders release of top Muslim figure

Egyptian authorities ordered the release on Saturday of leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian, who had spent more than five months in custody without charge, and three other members of the banned Islamic group on bail. El-Erian and fellow Brotherhood leader Helmi el-Gazar were detained on May 6.

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/ 16 October 2005

Zim opposition risks split over Senate elections

Simmering divisions within Zimbabwe’s main opposition party over whether to contest controversial Senate elections broke into the open last week, risking a split in the party that would hand a victory to President Robert Mugabe. The Movement for Democratic Change could score an own goal by splitting over a relatively minor issue.

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/ 16 October 2005

Britain condemns market bombing in Iran

Britain moved quickly on Sunday to condemn a deadly bomb attack in an ethnic-Arab dominated city in south-west Iran and repeated its denial of any link to a wave of unrest in the oil-rich region. Two bombs blamed on ”terrorists” killed four people and wounded 90 on Saturday in a market in Ahvaz.

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/ 16 October 2005

Albanian hell for family rejected by UK

As the large van rattled along a treacherous rocky track, the Vucaj family stared despondently through the windows. After five years of living in Britain, they were returning to another world, a Europe far removed from the more prosperous and secure corner of the continent they had come to love.

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/ 16 October 2005

Masterful game puts Free State in final

Free State played a masterful tactical game to beat Western Province (WP) 16-11 at Newlands on Saturday and advance to their second consecutive Currie Cup final. It was the second year running that they made beat WP in a Cape Town semifinal and the match followed much the same pattern as last year’s.