 The military leaders of Fiji's coup are facing mounting opposition over their decision to depose the prime minister and his government. Powerful tribal and church leaders are refusing to recognise the new regime, while ordinary Fijians have been urged to begin peaceful resistance. The new PM conceded the coup was "illegal" but said it was better than what he called a corrupt government. Jona Senilagakali has warned elections may be up to two years away. Tuesday's military coup has angered the Great Council of Chiefs, a hugely influential body with the power to appoint the president and vice-president, on the advice of the government. The Council's Chairman, Ratu Ovini Bokini, said its members still regarded Ratu Josefa Iloilo as president and described the military's removal of the vice-president as "illegal". ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 11:49:00 12-07-06
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 Ebola has killed 5,000 gorillas, study suggests |
The Ebola virus may have killed more than 5,000 gorillas in West Africa — enough to send them into extinction if people continue to hunt them, too, researchers said on Thursday.The virus is spreading from one group of the already endangered animals to another, the international team of experts report in this week's issue of the journal Science. And it appears to be spreading faster than it is among humans. "The Zaire strain of Ebola virus killed about 5,000 gorillas in our study area alone," primatologist Magdalena Bermejo of the University of Barcelona in Spain and at the Programme for Conservation and Rational Utilization of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa and colleagues wrote. Ebola hemorrhagic fever is one of the most virulent viruses ever seen, killing between 50 percent and 90 percent of victims. The World Health Organization says that it killed 1,200 people infected between its discovery in 1976 and 2004. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2708052
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Editor - 11:22:00 12-07-06
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| Jailed media worldwide hits record: U.S. watchdog |
The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work rose for the second year with Internet bloggers and online reporters now one third of those incarcerated, a U.S.-based media watchdog said on Thursday. A Committee to Protect Journalists census found that a record 134 journalists were in jail on December 1 -- an increase of nine from the 2005 tally -- in 24 countries with China, Cuba, Eritrea and Ethiopia the top four nations to imprison media.While print reporters, editors and photographers again made up the largest number of jailed journalists -- with 67 cases -- there were 49 imprisoned Internet journalists, making them the second biggest category, the New York-based committee said."We're at a crucial juncture in the fight for press freedom because authoritarian states have made the Internet a major front in their effort to control information," Committee Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061207/ts_nm/journalists_jail_dc
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Editor - 11:21:00 12-07-06
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| China 'executes dam protester' |
The Chinese authorities secretly executed a man who took part in violent protests against a hydroelectric project in 2004, his lawyer said. Chen Tao was among tens of thousands who demonstrated against the Pubugou dam in Sichuan province. Locals say the dam will displace 100,000 people. The protests turned into a riot which left a policeman dead. Mr Chen was found guilty of killing the policeman. Mr Chen's lawyer, Ran Tong, said he had not been allowed to attend his appeal. Mr Ran said he heard about the execution when he went to the high court in Sichuan to ask about progress in the case. "I am extremely angry about this because since the first trial (in April last year) I have repeatedly asked them for an appeal date and they have always told me that the case was being worked on," he told the French news agency AFP. "The appeal was held in secret. They tricked us and secretly executed Chen Tao."...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6217148.stm
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Editor - 11:19:00 12-07-06
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| Six hurt as tornado hits London |
Six people were injured and up to 150 houses were damaged when a tornado swept through several London streets leaving a trail of destruction. Rooftops were ripped off and cars were badly damaged as the twister hit the Kensal Rise area of north-west London. One man suffered a serious head injury and five have been treated for minor injuries and shock. Fire services have sealed six roads in a zone covering a quarter of a square mile and searched 100 properties. Fire crews were called at about 1100 GMT on Thursday to Chamberlayne Road and surrounding streets, amid reports of collapsed scaffolding and damage to buildings. Witnesses said there was heavy rain and sleet, then debris flying through the air. Resident Colin Brewer said: "It was really, really incredible. All of a sudden I saw a swirl starting to form and then, it was amazing, but it then touched land. "I then saw clumps of all sorts of things flying into air. "It went from exciting to terrifying." ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6217514.stm
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Editor - 11:01:00 12-07-06
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| UN urges freedoms for Arab women |
Discrimination against women is holding back economic and social development across the Arab World, a report by the UN's development agency says. Arab women must be given greater access to education, employment, health care and public life, the report says. The Arab Human Development Report is an annual overview compiled by Arab academics and experts in the field. Islam is not to blame for the problem, the report says, but rather political inflexibility, male domination and war.The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the Unite Nations Development Programme's report, entitled Towards the Rise of Women in the Arab World, reveals deep-seated discrimination against women across the region. Maternal mortality rates remain unacceptably high and women suffer more overall ill-health than men. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6216896.stm
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Editor - 10:53:00 12-07-06
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