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BBC news 2012-02-02

BBC News with Gaenor Howells

The Egyptian authorities say at least 73 people have died and more than 1,000 injured in northeast Egypt in clashes between rival football fans. The violence in the city of Port Said began when fans invaded the pitch after the home team al-Masry won a rare 3-1 victory against the visiting Cairo-based team al-Ahly. The deputy health minister described it as the biggest disaster in Egypt's football history. Jon Leyne, who's in Cairo, watched live coverage of the clashes.

It's a soccer disaster clearly, and soccer fans here are pretty notoriously violent at the best of times. But I think also a lot of people here (will think) are already suggesting on social media that there's a political element to this as well. The al-Ahly fans, known as Ultras, have become very political recently and have been involved in a lot of confrontations with the police. So whether there's any justification or not, a lot of people will say and have been saying that perhaps this is a way of getting revenge on them. And I think again that suspicion could lead to more violence on the streets in Egypt in the coming days.

The Nigerian authorities say the growth of informal gold mining in the north of the country is putting the lives of thousands of children at risk. More than 700 children have already died in Zamfara state from lead poisoning produced by dust from the mining.

New rules restricting the carrying of firearms have come into force in the Colombian capital Bogota. The temporary measure was introduced by Bogota's new mayor Gustavo Petro. Arturo Wallace has the details.

Gun ownership will still be legal, but guns won't be allowed in the streets or public places until the end of April. By doing so, the authorities expect to cut down on the homicide rate that saw 1,600 people murdered last year - that is more than four homicides a day. Critics of the measure have pointed out that the largest part of those killings involved non-registered weapons. They say criminals, who don't register their guns, are also unlikely to respect the ban.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is recalling a million packets of birth-control pills in the United States because they may contain the wrong amount of contraceptive agent. Jonathan Blake reports.

The tablets affected are made by Pfizer but sold here under the Akrimax Pharmaceuticals brand. Fourteen batches of a tablet called Lo/Ovral are affected along with another 14 of a generic equivalent. Some packets have too many active tablets, others too few, meaning a woman taking the pills could become pregnant accidentally. The tablets are not among the most popular birth-control drugs here. Those being recalled have expiry dates ranging from July 2013 to March 2014. Pfizer is advising any women who may have taken the affected pills to return them to their pharmacy and start using alternative contraception.

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Four British men inspired by a Yemen-based Islamist preacher have admitted planning to bomb the London Stock Exchange. The men, British nationals of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin, were part of a group of nine who pleaded guilty to a number of terrorism offences. They were arrested in December 2010 before they could carry out the attack.

Four South African men have been sentenced to 18 years in prison for stabbing and stoning to death more than four years ago a 19-year-old woman, Zoliswa Nkonyana. Karen Allen reports.

Ms Nkonyana, who was openly gay, was stoned and stabbed nine times just a short distance from her home in the township of Khayelitsha, just outside Cape Town. The magistrate said the clear motive for the killing was hatred and homophobia, and Wednesday's sentence was meant to send out a signal that violence based on sexual orientation would not be tolerated. Although South Africa has one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, rights groups say violent attacks and so-called "corrective rape" targeting lesbians are on the increase.

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Scientists studying a volcano which blew apart the Greek island of Santorini almost 4,000 years ago say they may now be able to predict such huge volcanic eruptions decades before they happen. Volcanologists analysed rock crystals from the island. Their findings published in the journal Nature suggest that the magma chamber may undergo a specific build-up in the years before eruption.

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