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/ 16 November 2006

Uganda’s laws favour death sentences

In 2003, Corporal James Omedio and Private Abdullah Muhammad stood before a public firing squad in Uganda for killing Irish Catholic priest Declan O’Toole; his driver, Patrick Longoli; and his cook, Fidel Longole. They were executed after they were found guilty by a field court martial, following a trial that lasted two hours and 36 minutes.

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/ 15 November 2006

DRC: Provisional results point to Kabila

Provisional results published on Wednesday from Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) historic presidential election gave President Joseph Kabila 58% of votes, against 42% for his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba, with all votes counted. DRC’s Independent Electoral Commission has said it must deal with challenges to the figures before declaring a winner.

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/ 15 November 2006

Africans cheer, condemn SA same-sex marriage Bill

Africans reacted with a mix of horror and delight at news South Africa had passed a Bill to legalise gay marriage, making it the first to do so on a continent where homosexuality is still largely taboo. Gay rights groups applauded the decision as a step forward for Africa. But some in deeply religious Africa lambasted the decision as ”un-African” and immoral.

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/ 15 November 2006

Bush, Putin agree to sign Russia WTO deal

United States President George Bush and Russia’s Vladimir Putin confirmed at an airport meeting on Wednesday they plan to sign a bilateral deal next week for Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the presidents confirmed that they would sign a protocol paving the way for Russia to join the WTO. Bush and Putin also discussed Iran and its nuclear programme.

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/ 15 November 2006

SABC ‘moving towards censorship’

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) will lead a march to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) offices on Thursday to demand that the broadcaster be transparent and accountable, the FXI said. It said in a statement on Wednesday that the working-class and poor communities would hand over a memorandum of grievances.

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/ 15 November 2006

Japan, Russia on tsunami alert

Small tsunami waves hit Japan’s northern-most island late on Wednesday after a major quake in the north Pacific triggered a full-scale tsunami warning for areas of northern Japan and Russia’s sparsely populated Kurile islands. An initial tsunami of 40cm came ashore near Nemuro on the Pacific Coast of Hokkaido Island just before 10pm local time (1pm GMT).

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/ 15 November 2006

White shakes up Springboks

South Africa coach Jake White made several changes to his side for Saturday’s opening Test against England, bringing in six players to his starting line-up from the team that ran out in last weekend’s tour-opening 32-15 defeat against Ireland.
Wite also made several positional switches for what will be the first of two back-to-back Tests against world champions England at Twickenham.