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/ 26 January 2005

Ivorian opposition wants UN to organise elections

Ivorian opposition leader Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday called on the United Nations to organise general elections scheduled for October in the divided West African country. Ouattara said he made the proposal during talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is acting as the African Union’s chief mediator in the Ivorian conflict.

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/ 26 January 2005

Poor turnout for Swaziland strike

About 300 people took part on Wednesday in a second day of protest in Swaziland, heeding a call by trade unions pushing for democratic reforms in Africa’s last absolute monarchy. The protesters marched through the streets of Manzini, Swaziland’s economic capital, closely watched by the police, who surrounded the crowd.

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/ 26 January 2005

‘Zimbabwe is not a banana republic’

The Zimbabwean government has warned the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) not to undertake a mission to Zimbabwe on the same terms as its previous visit. At the end of last year, a Cosatu delegation was summarily ordered out of Zimbabwe. ”If they try to do what they did last time [at the end of last year], they should be prepared to face the consequences,” Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi said.

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/ 26 January 2005

BMW names new South Africa MD

BMW has announced that Wolfgang Stadler will succeed Ian Robertson as managing director of BMW South Africa on February 1 2005. As reported late last year, Robertson will be leaving South Africa to assume the post of chairperson and CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in Goodwood in the United Kingdom.

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/ 26 January 2005

China bans beauty contests in schools

China has ordered education authorities and schools across the country to ban beauty contests in schools, state media reported on Tuesday. "The ministry of education explicitly opposes holding beauty contests in primary and high schools," a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

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/ 26 January 2005

Tsunami: One month later

Just more than a month after an epic tsunami ravaged southern Asia, children and teachers in Indonesia’s worst-hit Aceh province on Wednesday made an emotional return to school, where thousands of desks of classmates and colleagues sat empty. "I don’t think he’s coming," whispered one boy when his best friend did not show up.