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Press Releases
´óÏó´«Ã½ to bring live US election results to African audiences
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Leading up to and on the United States Presidential Election Day, Tuesday 4 November, ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service will bring live reports, special debates, interviews and other programming tailored for the African continent's diverse audiences.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ journalists reporting in English, French, Hausa, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi and Swahili will be filing their stories for TV, radio and online from across Africa and key cities in the USA.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili will mount its most ambitious live coverage to date with reporters in Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and the US.
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On the eve of the US elections, Monday 3 November at 17.00 GMT, residents of the Kenyan town of Kisumu – the birthplace of Barack Obama Senior – will be able to watch three days of US election coverage on a large screen, specially erected by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili, at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground.
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The screen will broadcast news, information and US Election Night coverage from the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commercial, international 24-hour news and information channel, ´óÏó´«Ã½ World News.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili reporters Wanyama Chebusiri and Ruth Nesoba will also be in Kisumu to bring the views of locals on the race for the White House.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili reporters Muliro Telewa and Caroline Karobia will be in the village of Kogelo in Kenya where Obama's grandmother, Sarah Obama, still resides. They will speak to locals who will share their thoughts on the US election.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ English for Africa Editor Joseph Warungu will bring live reports from the US city of Chicago – the home of Barack Obama's election camp – while ´óÏó´«Ã½ reporter Hassan Mhelea will be speaking to voters in Washington DC.
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All reports will be broadcast on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili flagship morning programme Amka na ´óÏó´«Ã½ which broadcasts for half an hour at 03.00 GMT and for another half-hour at 04.00 GMT.
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Reports can also be heard in ´óÏó´«Ã½ Swahili programmes Dira ya Dunia at 15.30 GMT and Leo Africa at 17.45 GMT. All reports can be heard again online at bbcswahili.com.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Hausa
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Hausa reporters in Cameroon, Ghana, Niger and Nigeria will bring local views on the US election results.
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Head of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Hausa, Jamilah Tangaza, and Bashir Saad Abdullahi will bring special reports from Washington, New York and Illinois – the home of Barack Obama.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ reporter Bilkisu Labaran will speak to voters in Phoenix, Arizona – where John McCain's election camp is based.
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All reports can be heard in ´óÏó´«Ã½ Hausa programmes Shirin Safe at 05.30 GMT, Shirin Hantsi at 06.30 GMT, Shirin Rana at 13.45 GMT and Shirin Dare at 19.30 GMT. Audiences can listen again online at bbchausa.com.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Afrique
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The ´óÏó´«Ã½ French for Africa service, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Afrique, will be gauging the responses of people in Cameroon and Ivory Coast on election night.
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In the US, ´óÏó´«Ã½ reporters Marie-Christine Bonzom, Bessan Vikou, Lamine Konkobo and Frederique Castel will bring reports from Chicago, Miami, New York, Ohio, Springfield and Washington DC.
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Their reports can be heard in flagship morning and evening news and current affairs programmes, Londres Matin at 06.00 GMT and Londres Soir at 18.00 GMT.
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On Saturday 8 November ´óÏó´«Ã½ Afrique will broadcast a special edition of L'Afrique en Direct at 12.00 GMT for an hour of in-depth conversation on the results of the US election.
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Senegalese writer Souleymane Jules Diop will also speak about his current book Obama, African Conqueror.
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All ´óÏó´«Ã½ Afrique reports can be heard online at bbcafrique.com.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Great Lakes
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Audiences listening in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi in the Great Lakes region will be kept up-to-date with all the latest on election day.
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On Saturday 8 November ´óÏó´«Ã½ Great Lakes will host a one-hour debate on the results of the US elections. Debate host, Head of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Great Lakes Ally Yusufu Mugenzi, will also compare elections held in the US with those in Africa. The debate can be heard at 05.00 GMT and again at 07.00 GMT.
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All ´óÏó´«Ã½ Great Lakes reports are available in audio online at bbcgreatlakes.com.
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English for Africa
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Reporters from most language services will contribute to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ popular English-language programmes tailored specifically for Africa, Focus On Africa at 15.00, 17.00 and 19.00 GMT and Network Africa at 03.30, 04.30 and 05.30 GMT in East Africa and additionally at 06.30 and 07.30 GMT in West Africa.
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Audiences wanting to share their views can contact Focus On Africa by email: focus@bbc.co.uk or by sending an SMS to: +44 7786 20 50 75. They can contact Network Africa by email: network.africa@bbc.co.uk or by sending an SMS to: +44 7786 20 50 85.
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On Saturday 1 November, news and current affairs programme African Perspective will look at the relationships between African and African-American students on campus together in the US.
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African students are doing exceptionally well at top universities in the US, but it seems their success is not popular with everyone. Black American commentators have said it is a travesty that affirmative action policies are benefitting Africans rather than African-Americans.
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Presenter Miriam Quansah asks how Barack Obama's presidential run has affected an already shaky relationship. This report can be heard in East Africa on Saturday at 21.06 GMT and on Sunday at 14.06 GMT and in West Africa on Saturday 1 November at 11.06 GMT and on Sunday 2 November at 14.06 GMT. It can also be heard online at bbcworldservice.com.
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On Wednesday 5 November, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s interactive radio and online programme Africa, Have Your Say will debate with audiences across the world the results of the US elections at 16.00 GMT. Presenter Vera Kwakofi will also link up with reporters throughout Kenya to bring the voices and opinions of audiences in the region.
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Listeners wanting to share their views can do so at bbcnews.com/africahaveyour or by sending an SMS to: +44 7786 20 20 08.
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Notes to Editors
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Somali – bbcsomali.com – and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Portuguese for Africa – bbc.com/portugueseafrica – will also cover the events on air and online.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service is an international multimedia broadcaster delivering programmes and services in 32 languages, and tailored for various regions, including: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Cantonese, English, English for the Caribbean, French for Africa , Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese for Africa, Portuguese for Brazil, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish for Latin America, Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek and Vietnamese.
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It uses multiple platforms to reach 182 million listeners globally, including shortwave, AM, FM, digital satellite and cable channels.Ìý
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It has around 2,000 partner radio stations which take ´óÏó´«Ã½ content, and numerous partnerships supplying content to mobile phones and other wireless handheld devices.Ìý
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Its news sites include audio and video content and offer opportunities to join the global debate.
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The number of weekly unique users of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service websites combined with the international news site in English averaged 13.2 million in March 2008.
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For more information, visit bbcworldservice.com.ÌýTo find out more about the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s English language offer and subscribe to a free e-newsletter, visit bbcworldservice.com/schedules.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ World News, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commercially-funded international 24-hour news and informationÌýchannel, is owned and operated by ´óÏó´«Ã½ World News Ltd, a member of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commercial group of companies.Ìý
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´óÏó´«Ã½ World NewsÌýattracts 78 million viewers a week, is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and reaches 283Ìýmillion households and more than 1.6 million hotel rooms.ÌýThe channel's content isÌýalso availableÌýon 64 cruise ships, 42 airlines, 37Ìýmobile phone networks and a number of major online platforms including bbc.com/news.Ìý
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For further information on how to receive ´óÏó´«Ã½ World News, download schedules or find out more about the channel, visit bbcworldnews.com.
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´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Press office
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