Zimbabwean election officials are expected on Saturday to begin a partial recount of votes from the March 29 elections despite opposition protests and widespread fears the political stalemate could erupt in violence.The recount in 23 of 210 constituencies could overturn the results of the parliamentary election.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered President Robert Mugabe was set on Friday to make his first keynote speech since the country’s disputed polls at celebrations to mark the 28th anniversary of the country’s independence. Mugabe was scheduled to be the main speaker at a rally at the Gwanzura Stadium in Highfield, a suburb of Harare.
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/ 16 February 2008
Two-thirds of the Taliban-led insurgents in Afghanistan can be persuaded to abandon violence, according to a British aid worker expelled from the country for opening talks with some of those allied to the militant group. Michael Semple said he was confident that most Taliban-linked insurgents could be absorbed into Afghanistan’s reconciliation process.
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/ 22 January 2008
It was one of the highlights of the Soviet calendar — a chance for the communist superpower to show off its military might and for ordinary citizens to check that their gerontocratic leaders were still alive. But 17 years after the last hammer-and-sickle tanks trundled through Red Square, the Kremlin is to revive the Soviet-era practice of parading its big weaponry.
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/ 14 January 2008
Russia announced on Monday it will not issue new entry visas to staff working in the British government’s cultural offices in two regions, sharpening a row that has soured already-poor relations. Russia ordered the British Council to halt work at the two regional offices from January 1 in a move both sides have linked to a diplomatic feud.
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/ 3 December 2007
A British woman jailed in Sudan for insulting religion by naming a teddy bear after the Prophet Muhammad was to be released on Monday after being granted a presidential pardon. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir signed the pardon after meeting two British Muslim peers who flew to Khartoum on a mercy mission.
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/ 1 December 2007
Two Muslim members of Britain’s House of Lords were in Khartoum on Saturday to seek the release of a British woman teacher jailed for insulting Islam after she named a teddy bear Muhammad. Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi, from the upper house of Britain’s Parliament, were to meet with Sudanese officials in a bid to free Gillian Gibbons (54).
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/ 28 November 2007
A British teacher detained in Sudan after her class called a teddy bear Muhammad was charged on Wednesday with insulting Islam in a move that sparked a diplomatic row. Gillian Gibbons (54) was also charged with inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs. If convicted, she could face 40 lashes, a fine or one year in jail.
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/ 28 November 2007
Sudan could charge a British school teacher within 24 hours for insulting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad by naming a teddy bear, the deputy justice minister said on Wednesday, adding that she is being well treated. ”A criminal case has been opened against her,” Abdel Daim Zamrawi said.
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/ 27 November 2007
Sudanese authorities began questioning a British teacher on Tuesday arrested for insulting Islam after her young students named a teddy bear Muhammad. Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher at the Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested on Sunday after complaints from parents.