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Africa’s Worst
Dictator: No, it’s not Mugabe |
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The situation in Zimbabwe is an outrage and
I can understand why the Bush
Administration, and the entire Western
world, is appalled by President Robert
Mugabe’s anti-democratic depredations. As
has been widely reported by the
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Obiang nearly gets all the votes |
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Malabo - The ruling party of hardline President Teodoro Obiang Nguema got nearly 100% of the vote in
elections in oil-rich
Equatorial
Guinea, according to first official results on Monday. The West
African
state voted on Sunday in parliamentary and local elections whose
outcome was a foregone conclusion for observers, amid opposition
charges of voting irregularities and harassment. According to...
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Equatorial Guinea votes amid opposition complaints |
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The West
African state of
Equatorial
Guinea voted on Sunday in
elections
expected to be won yet again by the veteran hardline president amid
opposition charges of voting irregularities and harassment. The
oil-rich state went to the polls in local and general elections whose
results were for observers a foregone conclusion, with the party of
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema expected to win as he has...
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Legislative |
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Voting has taken place peacefully in oil-rich
Equatorial
Guinea for legislative and municipal
elections
in which the ruling party of long-time president Teodoro Obiang Nguema
is expected to dominate. But as VOA's Nico Colombant reports from the
capital Malabo, many citizens had other priorities on voting day. While
polling centers opened slowly, many of the capital's poorest residents
focused on... |
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RESPECT FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA |
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Arbitrary or
Unlawful Deprivation of Life
The government or its agents did not commit
any politically motivated killings; however,
one detainee died while in police custody
during the year. On October 6, Salvador
Ndong Nguema died as a result of injuries
inflicted during torture in a jail |
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in
Evinayong several days earlier,
according to members of the
opposition party Convergence for
Social Democracy (CPDS), who
testified during sessions
conducted by the Parliamentary
Commission on Complaints (see
section 1.c.). There were
no developments in the February
2006 abduction and killing by
unknown assailants of Laesa
Atanasio Bita Rope in Cote
d'Ivoire. Rope was leader of the
Movement for the
Self-Determination of Bioko
Island. |
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Press freedom has
declined worldwide: researchers |
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WASHINGTON,
April 29: Worldwide, the environment for
journalists grew more hostile last year,
extending a six-year downturn, US
researchers reported on Tuesday
Still, the
US-backed country was not listed among the
worst countries for press freedom. The
worst-rated country was North Korea, while
Burma was second with a worsening crackdown
in the media. Cuba, Libya, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan, Belarus, Zimbabwe and Equatorial
Guinea were also among the worst-rated. |
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DNA
tests, coupled with Internet, connect
relatives
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BALTIMORE
- When the
paper
trail that Raymond A.
Winbush followed in
search
of his
African
roots ended at a
slave-holding
Kentucky
plantation, he turned to
a combination of modern
technologies:
genetic
testing and
online
social
networking. It worked. A
DNA test traced his
ancestry to tribes in
Cameroon
and
Equatorial
Guinea,
while an online forum
set up by the company
that scanned his DNA put
him...
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ISRAEL-OPT: West Bank
farmers face ruin after trees uprooted
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web
Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN
JEET,
WEST BANK,, 27 April
2008 (IRIN) - It was
difficult for
87-year-old Jamil Khader
to discover that nearly
all of the 1,400 olive
trees his extended
family planted in
February had suddenly
gone missing, having
been uprooted and
stolen. "He became very
ill when I told him. He
was hospitalised and was
in bed for a week," his
son Khalil, from the
small town of Jeet in...
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Deals of the day --
mergers and acquisitions |
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(Adds Devon, JPMorgan, Cisco and Philips)April 8 (Reuters) - The following
bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals
involving European, U.S. and Asian companies
were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday. |
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** Devon Energy
Corp said it had agreed to sell
its Equatorial Guinea oil and
gas assets for $2.2 billion to
GEPetrol, the national oil
company of Equatorial Guinea.
** JPMorgan Chase & Co completed
the first stage of its planned
acquisition of Bear Stearns Cos
Inc by gaining a 39.5 percent
stake in its beleaguered rival.
** Cisco Systems Inc said it
will buy the remaining
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stake in its majority-owned unit Nuova
Systems, and unveiled new network switches
they co-developed for corporate data
centers. |
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Devon Energy
selling assets in Equatorial Guinea
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Devon Energy Corp. said Tuesday that it has
agreed to sell its Equatorial Guinea oil and
gas business to GEPetrol, the national oil
company, for $2.2 billion and exit the
African country.
Oklahoma City-based Devon estimates that its
after-tax proceeds will be $1.7 billion. It
plans to use the proceeds to repurchase
shares, pay down debt and reinvest in its
businesses, company spokesman Chip Minty
told Bloomberg News.
The divestiture brings to $3 billion the
amount Devon has raised in shedding assets
in Africa. Devon sold Egyptian fields last
year and also has sold Ivory Coast
properties and fields in Gabon, Ghana and
Angolo. Nigerian properties will be the last
to be sold, Minty said.
Devon's principal asset in Equatorial Guinea
is its 23.75 percent participating stake in
the Zafiro offshore oil field. Estimated
proved reserves attributable to Zafiro, on
Block B, were 55 million barrels of oil at
year-end 2007. Devon's share of production
from Zafiro is about 20,000 barrels per day.
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Legal Opinion: What's
wrong with a couple of tyrants on a law firm's client list? |
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Law firms have
to be profitable, but they are not obliged
to act for anyone who comes through the door.
Not giving enough thought to ethics can be
catastrophic, says Matthew Rhodes |
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There has been a
recent flurry of foreign dictators,
oligarchs and despotic governments using the
English courts to have a pop at anyone with
whom they have a grievance. This has led to much comment on the rights and wrongs of
"forum shopping", but it also raises the
issue of whether law firms should be
accepting such instructions in the first
place. |
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Hits Telecom
Wins Mobile License in Equatorial Guinea |
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Hits Africa,
a subsidiary of Hits Telecom says that it has been selected
by the government of Equatorial Guinea as the second
national telecommunications operator. Hits Africa is to
implement the first converged network which consists of
mobile, fixed and data networks that will offer country-wide
coverage by the end of 2008. |
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Good News for Freedom Agenda: Pro-American dictator not a cannibal |
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Obiang’s exoneration as a flesh eater
clearly marks a major victory for President
Bush’s Freedom Agenda. |
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Now,
the only remaining human rights
issues left to be addressed in
Equatorial Guinea are
“abridgement of citizens’ right
to change their government;
instances of physical abuse of
prisoners and detainees by
security forces;
poor conditions in prisons and
detention facilities;
impunity; arbitrary arrest,
detention, and incommunicado
detention; |
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harassment and
deportation of foreign residents with
limited due process;
judicial corruption and lack of due process;
restrictions on the right to privacy;
restrictions on freedom of speech and of the
press; restrictions on the right of assembly,
association, and movement; government
corruption; violence and discrimination
against women; suspected trafficking in
persons; discrimination against ethnic
minorities;and restrictions on labor rights. |
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LONDON, England (CNN)
-- The wife of a British mercenary accused
of plotting to overthrow the president of
Equatorial Guinea has asked the west African
country to let him go.Simon Mann is a former
Army commando who once mingled with the
British elite at an exclusive prep school.
Now he faces possible torture and execution,
his wife says, in the tiny country on
Africa's Atlantic coast. |
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Yesterday in parliament |
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MPs
approved emergency legislation
to nationalise Northern Rock
after it was rushed through the
Commons in a single day.
The banking (special provisions)
bill was given a third reading
by 293 votes to 167. It goes to
the Lords later today as the
government seeks to get it on
the statute books by the end of
the week. The bill, which will
put the bank into temporary
public ownership, was attacked
by the Tories for enabling
ministers to nationalise any
other bank or building society
which finds itself in a similar
crisis.The
shadow Treasury chief secretary,
Philip Hammond, protested: "Wecannot
concede to the government a
standing power to
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nationalise banks and building societies." |
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Zimbabwe deports 'coup
mastermind' to Eq. Guinea |
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HARARE (AFP) —
The alleged British mastermind of a foiled
coup in Equatorial Guinea has been deported
there from Zimbabwe, even though he was
still appealing against his extradition,
court documents showed on Friday.Simon Mann,
an ex-SAS officer was placed on a military
plane and flown out in the early hours of
Thursday after being handed over to
Equatorial Guinea officials, a senior
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President of the
Republic of Equatorial Guinea visits Dubai World
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HE Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of
Dubai World received a high-powered presidential delegation from the
Republic of Equatorial Guinea on Sunday opening new horizons of
cooperation between the two sides.HE Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo,
President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, stressed the need to
enhance bilateral relations |
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between
UAE and his country. |
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Equatorial Guinea
President praises Dubai developments |
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The
President of Equatorial Guinea
Mr. Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Mbasogo, along with Mr. Sultan
bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai
World, visited the Dubai Stand
at the Tourism Development
Projects & Investment Market
(TDIM-08) exhibition at the
Dubai International Exhibition &
Convention Centre on Monday,
January 21. |
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During the visit,
Mr. Teodoro acquainted himself with various
multi-million dollar projects taking shape
in the emirate and the marketing and
promotional initiatives of the Dubai
Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing
(DTCM). |
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CAN2008: Ghana 2-1
Guinea |
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Sulley
Muntari
scored
the
winner
with two
minutes
left on
the
clock.
Sulley
Muntari's
last-gasp
wonder
goal
gave
hosts
Ghana a win in
their opening
Africa
Cup of
Nations
game
against
Group A
opponents
Guinea. |
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30-yard shot into the top corner
to ensure the Black Stars took
all three points.
Asamoah Gyan had put Ghana into
the lead midway through the
second half with a crashing
penalty.
A header from Oumar Kalabane
equalised for Guinea, before
Muntari got Ghana out of jail
with his late winner.
The weight of delivering the
hopes of a nation seemed to
burden Ghana who started the
match in scrappy fashion |
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SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON
TORTURE TO VISIT EQUATORIAL GUINEA |
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Manfred Nowak,
the Special Rapporteur on torture and other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment issued this statement
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today:
The
Special
Rapporteur
on
torture,
Manfred
Nowak,
will visit
Equatorial
Guinea
from 30
January
to 8
February
2008, at
the
invitation
of the
Government
of
Equatorial
Guinea.
In order
to
gather
first-hand
information,
Mr.
Nowak
will
meet
with
Government
Ministers
and
officials;
the
judiciary;
the
Parliamentary
Human
Rights
Commission;
and
representatives
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of
non-governmental organizations and
international organizations, among others. He
will also visit detention
facilities. |
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Isakson praises progress in Iraq, cites need
to obtain
stabilit |
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Sen. Isakson
also visited Africa during his trip abroad.
In Djibouti, he toured Camp Lemonier, the
largest U.S. military base in Africa. |
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He also went to Equatorial Guinea and toured a liquefied natural gas facility that is delivering the fuel to the United States via Elba Island off the coast of Georgia, near Savannah. Sen. Isakson said the Georgia port has received about $100 million in liquefied natural gas shipments from Equatorial Guinea."There are some issues in Equatorial Guinea that they have to work on, from a standpoint of their government and democracy and human rights," Sen. Isakson said, "but it's a unique relationship to be a recipient of such a valuable commodity coming into our country."
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