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/ 6 February 2004
Time has run out for the Children’s Bill. Parliament says it cannot properly deal with the proposed legislation, which aims to establish a framework to protect the rights of the child, before the elections. This is a setback for the Ministry of Social Development, which wanted the legislation processed before the elections.
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/ 6 February 2004
Some prisoners should be granted a presidential amnesty as part of the celebration of 10 years of democracy in South Africa, says the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights. The organisation wants all prisoners with less than three months of their sentences still to serve to be released.
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/ 6 February 2004
Former Sunday Times editor Mathatha Tsedu on Friday denied a report in the This Day newspaper that he would be the next editor of the weekly City Press newspaper. This Day reported that Media24, City Press’ owner, was to make an announcement on the matter next week.
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/ 6 February 2004
President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Friday said that his government does not foresee making any policy changes. Mbeki highlighted some of the achievements of the past 10 years, but also noted the ”blemishes” of the past, giving a fleeting reference to the HIV/Aids pandemic sweeping the country.
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/ 6 February 2004
Ariel Sharon was questioned by fraud detectives for nearly three hours on Thursday over bribery allegations that could force him from office. The Israeli prime minister claims he knew nothing about hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly paid to one of his sons by a businessman, in return for political favours.
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/ 6 February 2004
As France’s national assembly neared the end of a four-day debate on a ban on religious emblems in state schools, the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said ”similar legislation” was planned to stop hospital patients refusing to be treated by male doctors.
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/ 6 February 2004
Journalists at Zimbabwe’s only independent daily have left their offices after a court ruled that working without a government-issued licence is a crime. The Daily News, which was refused a licence and is a platform for dissent against President Robert Mugabe, will not appear on Friday.
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/ 6 February 2004
The South African government will "soon" be inviting proposals for private-sector participation in certain port operations, starting with the Durban Container Terminal, according to Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe, who was speaking at the opening of the second African Intermodal conference in Cape Town.
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/ 6 February 2004
Libya is to send its foreign minister, Abdulrahman Shalgam, to Britain on Monday for the highest-level meeting between the two countries since relations began to deteriorate in 1969. The Foreign Office confirmed on Thursday that Shalgam was to meet Tony Blair and the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, on Tuesday.
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/ 6 February 2004
If someone shouts "Truce!", it means a temporary cessation of hostilities. But be sure that when it’s over the war will go on. Thus the "truce" called by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry, in the war on software pirates.