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/ 18 November 2005

African states remain silent on Zimbabwe

Civic and human rights groups urged African leaders on Friday to pressure Zimbabwe to restore the rule of law and end human rights violations. An alliance of 25 groups said the Zimbabwe government mostly ignored calls by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights to observe human rights.

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/ 18 November 2005

Democracy taking root in Middle East:

Democracy is taking firm root in the Middle East and North Africa where Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinians will make great strides in 2006, Britain’s influential magazine The Economist predicted on Friday. The international weekly news and business magazine’s Index of Political Freedom ranked 20 countries on 15 indicators of political and civil liberties for its annual preview of the year ahead.

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/ 18 November 2005

Row over doctor’s ‘miracle cures’

Western researchers have called for tighter curbs on Indian clinics making ”extravagant claims” over the use of embryonic stem cells after a Delhi doctor this week said she had treated 100 terminally ill patients with the therapy. Experts in Britain expressed concern and scepticism on hearing that Geeta Shroff (41) who runs a genetics research laboratory and hospital in south Delhi, had produced and purified stem cells from human embryos.

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/ 18 November 2005

Russell Crowe due in court on assault charge

Actor Russell Crowe was scheduled to appear in Manhattan criminal court on Friday, accused of throwing a phone at a hotel concierge in June. If convicted of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, the Oscar winner could lose his right to work in the United States and face seven years in prison. His lawyers have been working to reduce the charges.

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/ 18 November 2005

Age-old craft in a classic Russian souvenir

Dressed in a dark blue smock, Alexander Dorofeyev stoops over his lathe, honing limewood into tiny, perfectly formed dolls. Here, ancient craft skills are used to turn out the ultimate Russian souvenir — the matryoshka doll, famous for opening up when its two halves are twisted apart, to reveal another slightly smaller doll inside.