Deafening silence in Zim Parliament
/ 14 February 2014

Deafening silence in Zim Parliament

An analysis of Zimbabwe’s former parliament shows that participation in both former houses was poor with 25% of MPs not uttering a word at all.

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/ 21 May 2008

US Senator Kennedy has malignant brain tumour

Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, the brother of assassinated president John F Kennedy and the elder statesman of American liberal politics, has a malignant brain tumour, his doctors said on Tuesday. Kennedy (76) who has been hospitalised in Boston since he had a seizure on Saturday, will likely need chemotherapy and radiation therapy to treat the glioma.

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/ 16 May 2008

Bush appeasement slur angers Democrats

United States President George Bush used a visit to Israel on Thursday to denounce Democratic party offers to negotiate with America’s enemies in the Middle East as comparable to appeasement of Hitler. Although Bush did not name any Democratic politician, the party’s presidential contender Barack Obama has offered to open negotiations with the Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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/ 7 May 2008

US lawmakers debate Bill to remove stigma of ANC

Lawmakers on Tuesday debated legislation to remove former South African president Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) from an apartheid-era United States terrorist blacklist. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, recalled that ANC members could travel to United Nations headquarters in New York but not to Washington DC or other parts of the United States.

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/ 5 May 2008

Strewth! Aussie Catholics call foul on TV chef

Australia’s Catholic church has taken a swipe at foul-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsay and demanded his reality television shows be either taken off air or shown at a later time. One episode broadcast recently featured Ramsay using a four-letter expletive more than 80 times, while he also shouts at a chef saying: ”You French pig.”

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/ 24 April 2008

Nigerian Senate slams South African crime

Nigeria’s Senate has passed a motion condemning a string of attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and ordered its foreign affairs committee to look into the matter urgently. Senator Grace Bent, who sponsored the motion, noted ”with serious concern the protracted and unabated intimidation, brutalisation and cases of robbery and sundry attacks”.

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/ 23 April 2008

Web regulation ‘entirely unwarranted’

The top United States government communications official said on Tuesday his agency has all the authority it needs to prevent internet service providers from discriminating against web surfers and that new legislation is unnecessary — this at a time when the issue of ”network neutrality” has heated up.

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/ 23 April 2008

Media bodies rap Zim over crackdown

Media bodies in Zimbabwe on Wednesday deplored a government crackdown on journalists and warned the safety of reporters was under threat in the aftermath of disputed elections. ”The security and safety of journalists is under serious threat in this country,” said Takura Zhangazha, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa.

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/ 15 April 2008

Berlusconi sweeps back to power in Italy election

Silvio Berlusconi has won his third Italian election with a bigger-than-expected swing to the centre right, but the media magnate said it would not be easy to solve deep economic problems. Votes were still being counted on Tuesday, but with Berlusconi’s victory clear on Monday evening, centre-left leader Walter Veltroni called to concede defeat.

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/ 14 April 2008

Berlusconi set for comeback as Italian PM

Self-made billionaire Silvio Berslusconi looked set to secure a third term as Italian prime minister on Monday, with exit polls predicting a narrow win for his conservative coalition in general elections. The exit polls, which came moments after voting ended, predicted the 71-year-old media magnate’s centre-right coalition would win.

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/ 11 April 2008

Berlusconi pleads for big election majority

Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday appealed to Italian voters to give him a huge majority at the general election on Sunday and Monday. He said that ”to really govern” he needed a margin of at least 20 seats in the Senate, the Upper House of the Italian Parliament. That would allow him ”to take, if necessary, difficult and unpopular decisions”.