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Saturday 8 May
An
elderly Pretoria North security guard, who raped 15
women in the Akasia area over a 10-month period, was
on Friday SENTENCED
IN THE PRETORIA HIGH COURT TO 10 LIFE TERMS AND A
FURTHER 204 YEARS IN JAIL
(News24 2004-05-07).
THREE
MORE COELACANTHS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED OFF SOUTH
AFRICA'S NORTH-EAST COAST,
bringing to seven the number of previously
unidentified coelacanths found in the past two
weeks, the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme
(Acep) said on Friday (IOL 2004-05-08).
Swaziland
SWAZI
LAWMAKERS SUSPENDED PARLIAMENT LATE ON THURSDAY
after a fresh challenge to the country's courts by
the handpicked government of King Mswati,
sub-Saharan Africa's last remaining absolute monarch
(SwissInfo 2004-05-07).
China
A Chinese chef FIRED
12 TMIES FOR REFUSING TO COOK WILD ANIMALS
has been awarded the honorary title "Green Chef
Protecting Wildlife" by the China Wildlife
Conservation Association (IOL 2004-05-08).
France
FRENCH
PRISONERS HAVE PUBLISHED THEIR OWN COOKBOOK
to teach other inmates how to produce low-budget
meals with simple prison cooking equipment. The
book, "Cooking Just For Me", seeks to live
up to France's reputation for gastronomic
excellence. It features 100 recipes by convicts that
range from sophisticated fish dishes to rich
chocolate cakes and desserts (Reuters 2004-05-07)
United
States
A soft-spoken lawyer struggling to build a small
practice in Portland has suddenly been swept into AN
INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MADRID TRAIN
BOMBING
- the biggest terrorist attack since Sept 11, 2001
(Seattle Times 2004-05-07).
Women's
groups are accusing United States President George
Bush's administration of putting politics before
science in REJECTING
OVER-THE-COUNTER SALES OF MORNING-AFTER BIRTH
CONTROL,
even though regulators left open the possibility
they will reconsider (IOL 2004-05-07).
Researchers
at the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory are working on a breakthrough
way of
DIGITIZING
AND ARCHIVING OLD RECORDINGS,
such as wax cylinders and traditional flat records,
that are too far gone for a standard stylus. If
successful, the pair may be able to help archivists
at the Library of Congress and elsewhere rescue
swaths of recorded musical and audio history that
are today in danger of being lost (CNet News
2004-05-07).
Few
people know it, but the invention of the microwave
oven can be traced back to an inquisitive engineer's
sweet tooth. History is full of accidental
inventions like this : Teflon, Coca-Cola and nylon
all emerged as serendipitous offshoots of unrelated
research. By luck or design, American technological
breakthroughs have resulted from a combination of
industrial research, government-funded academic work
and commercial competition. Such
"disruptive" technologies are needed today
more than ever to lead the next industrial cycle -
otherwise, US companies risk being eclipsed by other
nations, as MORE
HIGH-LEVEL R&D WORK IS DONE OFFSHORE IN AN
INCREASINGLY GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
(CNet News 2004-05-07).
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Friday 7 May
As
most of the 70 suspected mercenaries carry South
African passports, SA'S
CONSTITUTION MAY BIND THE COUNTRY TO FIGHTING THEIR
EXTRADITION
from Zimbabwe (Business Day 2004-05-04). Across-the-board
INCREASES
IN THE BLOOD PRESSURE OF BOYS AND GIRLS
of different ethnic and racial backgrounds could set
the stage for an explosion of hypertension, heart
disease and stroke in as little as 20 years
(Health24 2004-05-05).
Nielsen/Net
ratings, the global standard for Internet audience
measurement and analysis, reports today that WEB
SURFERS ARE MORE POLITICALLY ACTIVE THAN THE GENERAL
POPULATION
as the online population reported greater levels of
voter registration and political activity than the
general population (Nielsen/Net Ratings 2004-03-19).
United
Kingdom
Recording
a VERDICT
OF UNLAWFUL KILLING ON JULIE WARD,
the 28-year-old publishing assistant whose death the
Kenyans originally tried to blame on wild animals, a
coroner, said there had been a "flagrant"
effort to obstruct investigations. The burnt,
dismembered remains of Miss Ward were found in
September 1988 in the Masai Mara reserve, where she
had gone to photograph migrating wildebeest
(Telegraph 2004-05-05).
The Kenyan government admitted yesterday that there
was EVIDENCE
OF A HIGH-LEVEL COVER-UP
over the death of Julie Ward, whose burnt,
dismembered body was found on a game reserve 16
years ago (Telegraph 2004-04-29).
United
States
A judge has ruled that the Florida law enacted last
fall allowing Governor Jeb Bush to keep a
brain-damaged woman alive is unconstitutional : MICHAEL
SCHIAVO V GOV JEB BUSH ET AL
(FindLaw 2004-05-06).
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Thursday 6 May
The
PUBLIC
OUTCRY OVER HIGH CAR PRICES HAS LED TO A FORMAL
INVESTIGATION BY THE COMPETITION COMMISSION,
the organisation said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in a
separate development, the Competition Commission
concluded a consent agreement with Toyota in a
complaint against the manufacturer involving minimum
price maintenance. Under the order, Toyota agreed to
discontinue the practice and to pay an
administrative penalty of R12 million (Witness
2004-05-06).
HYUNDAI,
FORD, GENERAL MOTORS, BMW AND NISSAN HAVE ALL DENIED
THEY ARE GUILTY OF PRICE FIXING,
as it is illegal. These car makers were responding
to the competition commission's investigation into
high car prices and a number of sales practices,
which, if established, would be violations of the
Competition Act (News24 2004-04-05).
Concerns
about UNFETTERED
DEVELOPMENT NEXT TO THE UKHAHLAMBA WORLD HERITAGE
SITE
have again been raised by environmentalists, who
have lodged an appeal against the controversial Wild
Dog Estates. The pros or cons of the 360 hectare,
five star, 42 chalet, 40-bed hotel, well-being and
leisure centre outside Underberg are currently being
weighed up. A positive record of decision has
already been issued from the KwaZulu-Natal
Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs
(DAEA) Impact Management director, Sarah Allen
(wwtness 2004-04-06).
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Wednesday 5 May
South
Africa's COURTS
ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY SERVING ALL 11 OFFICIAL
LANGUAGES,
said KwaZulu-Natal Judge-President Mandla Hlophe
this week. "(But)
there can be no genuine equality of treatment in
court if there is no equality in the use of our 11
official languages" he said (News24
2004-04-05). Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland has lost an unfair
dismissal appeal because it did not disclose to its
employee, who was FIRED
FOR SENDING PORN BY E-MAIL,
how the offensiveness of the material was graded and
the sanctions applying to each grade (Out-Law
2004-04-29).
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's opposition is to go to court to try to
force South African President Thabo Mbeki to HAND
OVER A REPORT BY TWO JUDGES ON PRESIDENT ROBERT
MUGABE'S DISPUTED 2002 RE-ELECTION
(IOL 2004-05-04).
United
Kingdom
The CONTROVERSY
OVER THE BEHAVIOUR OF BRITISH FORCES IN IRAQ
SWITCHES TO THE HIGH COURT
on Wednesday as lawyers acting for the families of
14 Iraqis challenge the refusal by the Ministry of
Defence to consider any legal responsibility for
their deaths (M&G 2004-05-05).
United
States
The Supreme Court reinstated a murder conviction
Monday in the case of a California WOMAN
WHO CLAIMED SHE SHOT HER HUSBAND TO END HIS PHYSICAL
AND SEXUAL ABUSE
(FindLaw 2004-04-04).
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Tuesday 4 May
Perhaps
the most glaring omission from Google's
remarkable "owner's manual" for its
initial public offering, filed with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission last week, is
that the company, operator of the world's leading
search engine, gave prospective shareholders
virtually NO
HINT OF WHERE IT WAS HEADED
(International Herald Tribune 2004-05-04).
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Monday 3 May
Land
officials have told a dispossessed community of just
several hundred people that they have a VALID
CLAIM TO A VAST SWATHE OF PRIME PROPERTY ON THE
KWAZULU-NATAL SOUTH COAST.
Some 5 000, mostly white-owned, properties, most of
them worth millions, will be affected (Sunday Times
2004-05-02).
South
African households will in future have to CONTRIBUTE
TOWARDS A RETIREMENT FUND FOR DOMESTIC WORKERS.
This will also apply to small businesses, farmers
and employers in the informal sector. Dube Tshidi,
deputy chief executive of the Financial Services
Board (FSB), said these are the practical
recommendations that will make up a new law on
retirement funds. The new law will replace the
current pension fund act, which was implemented in
1956 (Finance24 2004-05-03).
The
City of Johannesburg has endorsed proposed increases
in tariffs, averaging 6.8% across the board, and
ratepayers have been urged to raise objections
before they are cast in stone. Council
is LEGALLY
OBLIGED TO REVIEW TARIFFS ANNUALLY IN TERMS OF THE
MUNICIPAL SYSTEMS ACT 32 OF 2000
as well as allow residents to participate in the
process
(Business Day 2004-05-03).
The
MSUNDUZI
MUNICIPALITY INTENDS WRITING OFF ALMOST R5 MILLION
IN UNPAID RATES
in a bid to curb costs as it prepares to pass the
2004/05 city budget. The measure is aimed at the
city's poorest of the poor who have been levied a
flat rate of R90, typically on properties valued at
R30 000 or less (Witness 2004-05-03).
The
Pondoland royal family have threatened to take the
Department of Mineral Affairs and Energy to court
over the PROPOSED
22 KM WILD COAST HEAVY MINERAL MINING OPERATION.
This follows the confirmation last week that
Australian mining company, Mineral Commodities, have
been awarded a mineral lease by the department.
pondoland's Queen MaSobhuza Sigcau told the Witness
that neither she nor her husband, King Justice
Mpondombini Sigcau, were consulted about the mining
operation, which would see hundreds of families
evicted from ancestral land, as well as the
destruction of the region's natural beauty and
ecotourist potential (Witness 2004-05-03).
Iraq
has become the WORLD'S
WORST PLACE FOR JOURNALISTS TO WORK IN,
the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said
in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on
Monday. The advocacy group also listed Cuba,
Zimbabwe, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh, China, Eritrea,
Haiti, the West Bank and Gaza, and Russia, following
Iraq in a ranking that it said "represents the
full range of current threats to press freedom"
(M&G 2004-05-03).
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