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/ 8 October 2003

US clears drug cure for killers on death row

Convicted murderers with severe mental health problems can be forced to take drugs that would make them clinically sane so that they can be executed, the US Supreme Court has ruled. Opponents of the death penalty yesterday described the court’s decision to uphold an earlier ruling on the issue — without debating it — as shocking.

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/ 8 October 2003

Turkey’s most wanted men stay loyal to the cause

The route up to Osman Ocalan’s headquarters, nestled in the rugged cliffs of the Qandilmountain high on the Iraq-Iran border, is treacherous yet surprisingly busy. Mule trains bearing the party faithful weave their way up precipitous paths, through dwarf oak and walnut trees, sheets of corrugated iron lashed across their backs like metal wings.

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/ 8 October 2003

Arafat has suffered heart attack, admits aide

Yasser Arafat has suffered a mild heart attack but the Palestinian leadership has sought to keep his health problems secret for fear it will ”create panic”. The 74-year-old Palestinian president, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, disappeared from public view last week and re-emerged at the weekend looking extremely ill.

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/ 8 October 2003

An engelsman in Perth

South Africa’s fortress in Fremantle doesn’t take kindly to my type. Poms, rooineks, colonial masters. Call us what you will. But when I snuck in to the Esplanade Hotel this morning it was like being a red-coated extra in a Boer War drama. Thing is, the Boks have got hangers-on like Gert Smal and Ray Mordt: two ex-players who can peel paint with one sneer.