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/ 17 October 2006
A Malawian court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments by a coalition of local rights groups seeking to block ”Queen of Pop” Madonna’s fast-track adoption of a 13-month boy from the poor African country. ”The court wants to hear our locus standi and why we should be appointed guardians of the child,” Justin Dzodzi, chairperson of the Human Rights Consultative Committee, said.
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/ 17 October 2006
Britain, one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, said on Tuesday it was looking forward to working with South Africa on the council. Congratulating South Africa on its election to the council on Monday, Britain’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Boateng, said the election was ”well-deserved” in light of the country’s efforts to bring peace to Africa.
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/ 17 October 2006
Leaders from 24 churches are to approach President Thabo Mbeki to discuss how they could help to fight crime in South Africa, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. ”Leaders of some of the country’s major Christian denominations met last week for a special consultation aimed at getting involved in lessening violence and crime in the nation,” said spokesperson Dr Coenie Burger.
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/ 17 October 2006
Some economic analysts say the passion for land is dying out in modern South Africa as more rural residents move to urban areas to escape the crushing poverty that contrasts sharply with much of the country’s prosperous cities. But some SA women, who met on the weekend, showed land hunger was still strong at a conference with hundreds of activists, officials, traditional leaders and farmers.
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/ 17 October 2006
United States President George Bush signed a law on Tuesday authorising tough interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects and took an indirect, election-year swipe at Democrats who opposed the legislation. Bush, trying to help Republicans maintain control of the US Congress by emphasising national security, called the Military Commissions Act of 2006 ”one of the most important pieces of legislation in the war on terror”.
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/ 17 October 2006
Two Boland rugby players appeared in the Rawsonville Circuit Court on Tuesday charged with killing a Rawsonville player earlier in the year. A court official said the matter was transferred to Worcester where the pair would appear again on November 21. Ben Zimri, eighth man of the Delicious Club, and centre Wayne Matthee, were again released on a warning.
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/ 17 October 2006
Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula insisted on Tuesday that crime is decreasing, but acknowledged citizens’ concerns this was not so. Nqakula said in the National Assembly that the criminal justice system ministers still believed the law enforcement agencies ”are going to be able to deal with the crime that is happening in South Africa”.
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/ 17 October 2006
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka warned that the government may be forced to ask the Chinese to increase the quota of clothes and textiles they export to South Africa if local manufacturers fail to meet demands, the Dispatch Online reported on Tuesday. And should local businesses fail to make the most of the quota agreement entered into with China, it would expire, she warned.
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/ 17 October 2006
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel on Tuesday said the salaries of municipal managers ”in aggregate” were ”not awfully high”. He was speaking at a media conference after the release of the Local Government Budgets and Expenditure Review at Parliament.
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/ 17 October 2006
Israel on Tuesday ratcheted up threats of a massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, amid an ongoing war of words with the ruling Hamas movement, which has vowed to teach the army a harsh lesson. ”Gaza should not become a second Lebanon,” said Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Boim, reiterating a phrase used by Israeli leaders recently.