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• Swimming with giant humpback whales

  - 2008-08-23

  VAVA'U, Tonga AFP — The southern humpback whale lies suspended vertically near the surface just metres away from me, its ghostly white underside silhouetted against the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean. The giant mammal is nearly 16 metres (50 feet) long and weighs around 3.5 tonnes, but a...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Government, Harassment, SOFTWARE

• Spanish PM voices 'contempt' for ETA killer set for release

  - 2008-08-01

  MADRID AFP — Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero voiced "contempt" Friday for a convicted member of the Basque separatist group ETA who is to be released from prison, but said the "law must be respected." Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos is to be freed from jail on...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Government, Harassment, Madrid, MARKETING, voice

• Zimbabwe police nab opposition MP amid crackdown

  - 2008-06-07

  HARARE AFP — Police in Zimbabwe on Saturday arrested an opposition MP for the second time in a week after the authorities forced presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai to halt campaigning ahead of a June 27 run-off against President Robert Mugabe. Eric Matinenga has been charged with "incitement to public...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Government, Harassment, Litigation, spokesman, Zimbabwe

• France to urge UN to decriminalise homosexuality

  - 2008-05-17

  PARIS AFP — France plans to ask the United Nations to push for homosexuality to be decriminalised around the globe, a government minister said Saturday, as gays and lesbians worldwide marked the International Day Against Homophobia. Human Rights Minister Rama Yade told a delegation of French gay and lesbian...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, France, Government, Harassment, Iran, Paris, SOFTWARE, U.N.

• US urges Zimbabwe to set presidential runoff date

  - 2008-05-14

  WASHINGTON AFP — The United States on Wednesday urged Zimbabwean authorities to set a date for a presidential run-off election after they announced it would be postponed for as much as 10 weeks. "If a run-off is going to happen, there certainly is an obligation on the part of...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Government, Harassment, SOFTWARE, Zimbabwe

• Israeli PM fights for political life in bribery scandal

  - 2008-05-08

  JERUSALEM AFP — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was facing mounting calls on Friday to resign over a criminal probe into allegations he took bribes from a millionaire US financier. Olmert has vehemently denied any wrongdoing but said he would quit if he is charged in a case that...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, bribe, FINANCE, Government, Harassment, Israel, president, suspicion, wrongdoing

• Sarkozy praise for Tunisian rights 'progress' sparks outrage

  - 2008-04-29

  PARIS AFP — French President Nicolas Sarkozy's remark that "the sphere of liberties" in Tunisia is improving sparked outrage Tuesday among human rights groups and the Socialist opposition in France who accuse the North African state of torturing dissidents and blocking press freedoms. "His unacceptable declaration has led him...

  Tags: activist, Agence France-Presse, Government, Harassment, liberty, president, SOFTWARE

• Japan govt, media groups concerned as shrine film pulled

  - 2008-04-01

  TOKYO AFP — A controversial documentary on a Tokyo war shrine looks unlikely to be screened in Japan amid pressure from right-wingers, prompting the government and media groups to cry foul on Tuesday. The local production office of Chinese director Li Ying said the decision by three cinemas in...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, documentary, Government, Harassment, Japan, SOFTWARE, Tokyo

• We won't stop, activists tell Japanese whalers

  - 2008-01-15

  SYDNEY AFP — A militant anti-whaling group chasing Japanese whalers refused Wednesday to abandon their high-seas harassment in return for the release of two of its activists detained on board one of the ships. The standoff in the icy waters off the Antarctic has forced the government in Australia...

  Tags: activist, Agence France-Presse, board, Government, Harassment, Japan

• China crackdown flouts Olympic rights vow: activists

  - 2008-01-07

  BEIJING AFP — China's arrest of a prominent rights campaigner is part of an increasing crackdown on critics that breaks promises it made to land the Olympics, said activists who called for world pressure on Beijing. The arrest of Hu Jia, who was taken from his Beijing home on...

  Tags: activist, Agence France-Presse, arrest, Beijing, China, Government, Harassment, SOFTWARE