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President Robert Mugabe on Thursday predicted a landslide victory for his ruling party in elections that the opposition in Zimbabwe charged were not free and fair despite a campaign that broke away from the political violence of the past five years. He dismissed opposition concerns of election fraud as ”nonsense”.
The firearms amnesty has missed its target and many ”illegal” guns that have been handed in are registered on the police database, but not in the names of heirs who have inherited them, the South African Gun Owners’ Association (Sagoa) said on Thursday. A Sagoa spokesperson said such people are legal owners under previous legislation.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Thursday upheld an appeal by Laurie Frazer, who in 1997 made headlines for several failed attempts to get custody of his child, who was given up for adoption without his consent. The SCA set aside his prison sentence and replaced it with a fine, a suspended jail sentence and community service.
Fans of hit television drama series <i>24</i> can soon become agent Jack Bauer in a "brand-new day" of the show: a PlayStation2 game developed with the help of the <i>24</i>’s writers, musicians, stars and producers. The countdown has begun to the release of <i>24: The Game</i>.
A flight attendant offering to cuddle a prosecutor and a stand-up comic making fun of the lead defence attorney have helped to lighten a serious court case. The judge himself said he did not mind a bit of humour in his courtroom, and admitted that between the comedians and the lawyers, he preferred the comedians.
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Zimbabweans were holding landmark elections on Thursday that President Robert Mugabe hopes will tighten his ruling party’s 25-year grip on power after weeks of campaigning. Under an early-morning drizzling rain, thousands of people could be seen queueing at polling stations in Harare.
The looming indemnity deadline for those fraudulently receiving social grants has resulted in a last-minute rush of people queuing to apply, officials said on Thursday. Almost 6 000 people have applied for indemnity in the various provinces since the indemnity was offered on December 12 last year.
Operations have halted at all Gold Fields mines in South Africa while workers strike over housing allowances, a company spokesperson said on Thursday. He said that, in striking, the National Union of Mineworkers is going against a signed agreement with the company. Gold Fields has applied for a court interdict to get the miners back to work.
A leading children’s rights organisation is concerned that two proposed laws on child protection could result in duplication and a waste of resources. A child’s general right to health care has been reduced in the Children’s Bill, and the right to health care after sexual assault has been removed from the Sexual Offences Bill.
After their application to the federal appeals court in Atlanta, Georgia, was again declined on Thursday, Terri Schiavo’s parents filed another appeal to the US Supreme Court. The court can deny the stay, grant it or refer it to the entire court for a decision. Meanwhile, actor Mel Gibson called the situation a dark day for the United States.