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/ 10 December 2004
The Sudanese government said on Friday that peace negotiations will be meaningless if ceasefire violations persist in crisis-torn Darfur, just hours before talks were to resume in Nigeria. "The recent violations by the holders of arms will cast shadows on the negotiations," Cabinet minister Abdallah Safi al-Nur said.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=176405">UN envoy fears failure of Darfur talks</a>
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/ 10 December 2004
A lovesick teen landed himself in jail after he stole a motorcycle from his neighbour to get money to pay a sorcerer for love potions that would make his errant girlfriend return, Cambodian police said on Friday. Nuon Ra (18) had visited a ”love magician” in desperation after his girlfriend dumped him.
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/ 10 December 2004
Thieves used a crane, a truck and the cover of pre-dawn darkness to steal a 700kg giant bronze statue of 19th-century Russian author Mikhail Lermontov in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz, Itar-Tass news agency said on Friday. The theft occurred from a well-known public square in the city.
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/ 10 December 2004
Friday’s key talks between the government of Sudan and rebels in the troubled Darfur region could fail because of a new surge of violence, the United Nations’s envoy to the country said. The talks in Nigeria, sponsored by the African Union, are aimed at resolving the conflict in Darfur, where an estimated 70 000 people have died.
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/ 10 December 2004
Eritrea and Ethiopia could go to war again if the long-running border dispute between the two Horn of Africa nations is not settled, a senior Eritrean official warned on Thursday. ”We’ve been patient, but the current situation is not sustainable indefinitely,” Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki’s chief of staff said in Asmara.
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/ 10 December 2004
Former rebel leader and opposition candidate Afonso Dhlakama on Friday demanded fresh elections in Mozambique, accusing the ruling Frelimo party of ”criminal fraud” during two days of voting for a new president and Parliament. Dhlakama accused Frelimo of preventing millions from casting their ballots.
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/ 10 December 2004
Nigerian authorities said on Friday they have shuttered two universities after the latest outbreak of Christian-Muslim fighting in restive northern Nigeria, hoping to calm tensions after a student religious debate turned violent. Fighting flared anew on Thursday when a student shared Christian texts downloaded from the internet with Muslim pupils.
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/ 10 December 2004
Less than 100 people carrying placards gathered outside the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria on Friday to protest against ”human-rights abuses and repressive legislation” in that country. The group sang protest songs such as We Shall Overcome and Sangena (We Are Arriving).
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/ 10 December 2004
Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai on Friday received the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, becoming the first African woman and first environmentalist to receive the prestigious award. Maathai accepted the traditional gold medal and diploma that accompanies the $1,1-million prize from the chairperson of the Nobel Committee.
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/ 10 December 2004
Uganda’s government must do what it can to protect children and women from violence, while the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army must immediately and unconditionally stop abducting, killing and exploiting Uganda’s children, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Thursday. "Children are being killed and raped," it said.