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/ 10 December 2004
In a victory for rebellious teenagers, the Seattle Supreme Court has ruled that a mother violated Washington’s privacy law by eavesdropping on her daughter’s phone conversation. Privacy advocates applauded the Thursday ruling, but the mother was unrepentant.
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/ 10 December 2004
Two Malaysian retirees have been detained by religious authorities in the northern Perak state after they were caught allegedly having sex by the beach in broad daylight, a news report said on Friday. The 56-year old man will be charged with committing ”indecent acts” with his 51-year old partner, who also happens to be his sister-in-law.
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/ 10 December 2004
Australian companies were warned on Friday that unruly office parties could bring an expensive post-Christmas hangover. The party-giver could end up in court in duty-of-care cases involving sexual harassment, fist-fighting or drunken driving, Queensland business leader Graham Heilbronn cautioned.
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/ 10 December 2004
The Sudanese government said on Friday that peace negotiations will be meaningless if ceasefire violations persist in crisis-torn Darfur, just hours before talks were to resume in Nigeria. "The recent violations by the holders of arms will cast shadows on the negotiations," Cabinet minister Abdallah Safi al-Nur said.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=176405">UN envoy fears failure of Darfur talks</a>
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/ 10 December 2004
A lovesick teen landed himself in jail after he stole a motorcycle from his neighbour to get money to pay a sorcerer for love potions that would make his errant girlfriend return, Cambodian police said on Friday. Nuon Ra (18) had visited a ”love magician” in desperation after his girlfriend dumped him.
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/ 10 December 2004
Thieves used a crane, a truck and the cover of pre-dawn darkness to steal a 700kg giant bronze statue of 19th-century Russian author Mikhail Lermontov in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz, Itar-Tass news agency said on Friday. The theft occurred from a well-known public square in the city.
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/ 10 December 2004
Friday’s key talks between the government of Sudan and rebels in the troubled Darfur region could fail because of a new surge of violence, the United Nations’s envoy to the country said. The talks in Nigeria, sponsored by the African Union, are aimed at resolving the conflict in Darfur, where an estimated 70 000 people have died.
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/ 10 December 2004
Eritrea and Ethiopia could go to war again if the long-running border dispute between the two Horn of Africa nations is not settled, a senior Eritrean official warned on Thursday. ”We’ve been patient, but the current situation is not sustainable indefinitely,” Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki’s chief of staff said in Asmara.
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/ 10 December 2004
Former rebel leader and opposition candidate Afonso Dhlakama on Friday demanded fresh elections in Mozambique, accusing the ruling Frelimo party of ”criminal fraud” during two days of voting for a new president and Parliament. Dhlakama accused Frelimo of preventing millions from casting their ballots.
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/ 10 December 2004
Nigerian authorities said on Friday they have shuttered two universities after the latest outbreak of Christian-Muslim fighting in restive northern Nigeria, hoping to calm tensions after a student religious debate turned violent. Fighting flared anew on Thursday when a student shared Christian texts downloaded from the internet with Muslim pupils.