Submitted by admin on Sat, 2007-03-24 08:00. ::
? PRETORIA, South Africa -- South Africa defended its policy on Zimbabwe as the only way to approach President Robert Mugabe's authoritarian government and said African nations might convene a summit to deal with the crisis there.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad rejected criticism of South Africa's so-called quiet diplomacy by Australia and other Western countries. He said South Africa was working to facilitate contact between Mugabe's government and opposition activists.
? MAPUTO, Mozambique -- Anxious crowds gathered at the city's hospital as doctors and nurses struggled to keep up with a stream of people wounded when a weapons depot exploded in a densely populated neighborhood, sparking a cascade of rockets and ammunition. The inferno, which killed 93 people, has been blamed on high temperatures overheating the dilapidated depot.
? MEXICO CITY -- The Vatican sent in its top antiabortion campaigner to launch the Catholic Church's aggressive effort against plans to legalize abortion in Mexico.
The church's campaign pushes the limit of Mexico's constitutional ban on political activity by religious groups. It is also drawing President Felipe Calder?n, a conservative who opposes abortion, into a showdown with leftists spearheading the bills to legalize it.
? BOGOTA, Colombia -- President ?lvaro Uribe's former intelligence chief, Jorge Noguera, was freed from jail after a judge ruled his imprisonment for alleged links to far-right militias was illegal on procedural grounds, the latest twist in a scandal battering Colombia's conservative government.
? HANOI -- Vietnam imposed a heavier-than-expected sentence on a former vice trade minister found guilty of receiving thousands of dollars in bribes involving garment and textile exports to the United States.
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