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/ 7 February 2004
As an Amnesty report revealed this week, the Chinese government is using an increasingly heavy hand to try to silence the growing whispers of opposition on the web. The group says 54 people had been arrested for disseminating their beliefs through the internet by December — a 60% increase on the previous year.
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/ 7 February 2004
Three years ago, a typhoon over the remote Ulithi atoll in Micronesia left a strong smell of oil in its wake. Within days, islanders discovered a large slick in one of their fishing lagoons. It came from the wreck of the USS Mississinewa, a World War II American oil tanker sunk in the atoll by a Japanese torpedo in 1944.
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/ 7 February 2004
British police investigating the deaths of 19 Chinese workers who drowned when they were trapped by a rampaging night tide while picking cockles in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, were on Friday night hunting the gangmasters behind the tragedy. Early evidence suggests the dead were working illegally for organised criminal gangs.
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/ 7 February 2004
The future of Germany’s chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, appeared to be in grave doubt on Friday night following his unexpected resignation as the leader of the centre-left Social Democratic party. Schroeder said he would carry on as the German chancellor.
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/ 7 February 2004
Sudan’s peace process will collapse if Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army refuse to involve others in the talks that are under way in Kenya, political commentators have warned. A number of south Sudanese who are living in South Africa expressed impatience with the Darfur regional conflict.
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/ 7 February 2004
Record-breaking Ernie Els appeared on his way to a third consecutive Heineken Classic title after shooting a four-under-par 68 on Saturday to hold an eight-stroke lead after three rounds at Royal Melbourne. On Saturday, Els came within a shot of his 54-hole European Tour record of 23-under 193 he set last year.
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/ 7 February 2004
Doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman and rookie Joachim Johansson put Sweden within one win of an upset victory over Davis Cup champions Australia winning the pivotal doubles in a five-set classic at Memorial Drive in Adelaide on Saturday. Their crucial victory gave the Swedish outsiders a 2-1 edge going into Sunday’s final-day reverse singles.
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/ 7 February 2004
The rain stayed away from Kingsmead but it did not help the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins’ cause as they crashed to a 64-run defeat at the hands of Easterns on Friday. The result means that the Dolphins slumped out of contention in the Standard Bank Cup cricket tournament.
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/ 7 February 2004
Boland ended their one-day season on a high note with a thrilling victory over Free State in a Standard Bank Cup match in Paarl on Friday. On a well-grassed pitch, they made heavy weather of chasing a relatively low target. After losing the toss, Henry Williams and Ryan Groeneveld each took an early wicket.
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/ 6 February 2004
The Democratic Alliance has called for Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza to explain chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya’s statement that the government is considering a six-month extension for land claims in the Eastern Cape.