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Nigeria: Voter registry shows northern power

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP)— Preliminary voter registration statistics in Nigeria show the country's Muslim north holds an edge in the country's upcoming elections.

Numbers released by the Independent National Electoral Commission suggest states in Nigeria's north have more than 36 million voters, compared to the largely Christian south having 31.6 million. In total, the commission says 67 million voters registered ahead of April's presidential election.

Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 19:34

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Libya: Gadhafi vows to fight on, die a martyr

by Maggie Michael

CAIRO (AP)—Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi vows to fight on and die a "martyr," calling on his supporters to take back the streets from protesters demanding his ouster,  he said, shouting and pounding his fist, in a furious speech Tuesday on state TV.

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FACES OF REVOLUTION—An army soldier and anti-regime residents pose for photos in front of a tank in the early hours of Feb. 22, in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/Alaguri)

Gadhafi, swathed in brown robes and turban, spoke from a podium set up in the entrance of a bombed out building that appeared to be his Tripoli residence hit by U.S. airstrikes in the 1980s and left unrepaired as a monument of defiance. The speech, which appeared to have been taped earlier, was aired on a screen to hundreds of supporters massed in Tripoli's central Green Square.

Shouting in the rambling speech, he declared himself "a warrior" and proclaimed, "Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world."

Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 19:23

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Egypt demonstrators entertain to keep morale high

by Diaa Hadid
Associated Press Writer

CAIRO (AP)—Two rows of men greet demonstrators at the main entrance to Tahrir Square, clapping as people enter, and chanting in the rhythms of a traditional Egyptian wedding procession.

“We are becoming bigger!” they shout. “God is Great!”

Inside Cairo’s main square, musicians stroll, a man reads poetry to the crowd and vendors hawk potato chips, tea, hot food—even socks.

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KEEPING THE CROWD ENGAGED—A group of musicians, one playing the oud, center-right, entertain anti-government protesters with songs against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the continuing demonstration in Tahrir square in downtown Cairo, Egypt Feb. 4. Graffiti in arabic on wall behind reads “Down Mubarak the corrupt.” (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 19:23

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Critics: Chocolate financing Ivory Coast's Gbagbo

by Michelle Faul

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Some of the cocoa in that Valentine's Day chocolate probably came from a West African country where the man in power for a decade is still clinging to office. And activists say consumers might also think twice if they knew unpaid 5-year-olds helped produce it.

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YOUNG WORKERS—In this June 30, 2005 photo, children living in a cocoa producing village walk back from the fields carrying wood and food stuff on their heads on the outskirts of the town of Oume, Ivory Coast. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File)

This year, human rights advocates are harnessing the political crisis in Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, to add momentum to an ongoing campaign to force the world's chocolate makers to improve their labor practices.

Supporters of the internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast's election also have pushed for a cocoa ban in an effort to financially strangle incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who the U.N. says lost the November election.

Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 19:23

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Child rights prize awarded to Dominican teen

(NNPA/GIN)-- From a sugar cane workers village in the Dominican Republic, 16 year old Francia Simon was selected from among 80 entries to receive the global KidsRights prize for helping children, including Haitian refugees, obtain necessary ID documents.

“My own situation gave me a reason to work with other children, whose basic rights were violated since birth, without a name or nationality,” said Francia, who is Afro-Dominican and had no birth certificate herself until last year.  “Without a certificate, you are nothing.” she said.

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FRANCIA SIMON

Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 19:23

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