Signatures by 100,000 petitioners are needed in Switzerland for a referendum - including a possible one on banning the construction of minarets on mosques.
Deputies from the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and Federal Democratic Union (EDU), who are pushing for a vote, are confident they can collect the signatures by November 2008.
Swiss Foreign [...]

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The British Government will consider opting out of human rights legislation to crack down on terrorist suspects, the Home Secretary has said.
In the wake of three men going on the run after breaching control orders, John Reid said ministers may choose to suspend parts of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) so it [...]

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Girls of 12 were questioned about their sexual preferences by lottery-funded researchers, it has emerged.
Participants were encouraged to discuss their favourite sex acts and positions as part of a £242,000 study.
The initiative, financed by the Big Lottery Fund, was aimed at exploring young women’s attitudes to safe sex.
But the project has come [...]

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France has said it plans to offer incentives to more immigrants - especially those from Africa - to return home voluntarily.
New Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux said a family with two children would be paid 6,000 euros (£4,068) to return to their country.
In 2005-2006, a similar scheme was taken up by some 3,000 families. [...]

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[I am sure Saddam would have been able to stamp out this drug situation-ed]
Farmers in southern Iraq have started to grow opium poppies in their fields for the first time, sparking fears that Iraq might become a serious drugs producer along the lines of Afghanistan.
Rice farmers along the Euphrates, to the west of the [...]

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A schoolgirl was murdered by a fast food shop owner who joked that she had been “chopped up” and had gone into the kebabs, a court heard today.
Charlene Downes, 14, was killed by Iyad Albattikhi, 29, owner of Funny Boyz fast food shop in Blackpool, who it is alleged had sex with the youngster he [...]

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