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/ 9 September 2004
Invoking sweeping security laws, police detained an opposition leader after a series of raids on the homes and offices of government opponents, says Zimbabwe’s main opposition party. Nelson Chamisa, a lawmaker and head of the MDC youth wing, was picked up by police who allege that he held an illegal political meeting.
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/ 9 September 2004
The Traditional Health Practitioners Bill, which gives formal recognition to the about 200 000 traditional healers in South Africa, has been approved in the National Assembly. South Africa is not alone in recognising that traditional medicine has a value long neglected by formal health systems.
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/ 9 September 2004
Nelson Mandela is neither a god nor a saint, he’s got vices and virtues like any other person, says his personal assistant Zelda la Grange.
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/ 9 September 2004
A classical music competition with the title ”Degenerate Music” will take place in Germany later this month focussing on works and composers derided or banned by the Nazis, organisers announced on Thursday. About 60 musicians from 13 nations will take part in the competition in Schwerin, northern Germany, from September 22 to 26.
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/ 9 September 2004
At least 60 people were killed on Thursday in Pakistan’s heaviest-ever bombing in the tribal South Waziristan region where al-Qaeda suspects were believed to be hiding, witnesses said. Military spokesperson Major General Shaukat Sultan did not give the number of casualties, however, locals said two fighter jets, supported by at least 10 gunship helicopters, killed about 60 individuals, mainly women and children.
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/ 9 September 2004
China has shut down a popular internet website which helped members of the public report complaints to government authorities. Jiang Huanwen, founder of China Reporting Net, was notified by authorities in northeastern Liaoning province that his website would be shut because it breached ”relevant laws”.
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/ 9 September 2004
A supercomputer used to create special effects in the Lord of the Rings fantasy film trilogy is now open for business in the real world of global commerce, backers said on Thursday. Ranked 80th among the world’s 500 most powerful computers, it can perform 2,8-trillion calculations a second, said New Zealand Supercomputing Centre spokesperson Eric Pilon.
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/ 9 September 2004
About 3 000 municipal workers marched on the headquarters of the Tshwane metro council on Thursday to demand an end to privatisation. The group, members of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union, called for meaningful negotiations with the employer and threatened further action if this did not transpire.
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/ 9 September 2004
Yasser Arafat’s expulsion is ”closer than ever,” the Israeli foreign minister warned in remarks broadcast on Thursday, as six Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the single deadliest incident, in the northern Gaza Strip, soldiers opened fire from a tank-mounted machine gun at Palestinians, killing at least three, including a 13-year-old boy, and wounding nine.
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/ 9 September 2004
Women in labour so intoxicated they do not know they are giving birth, children fed alcohol to keep them quiet, and low grade wine cheaper than bread. These are realities in South Africa, the country with the worst foetal alcohol syndrome in the world.