No image available
/ 29 September 2007
If you have a hard time hearing conversation at a bar, it may not be because of the noise, a study suggests. Alcohol, United Kingdom researchers found, seems to temporarily drain a person’s hearing — particularly when it comes to discerning the sounds of conversation.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
Ten thousand municipal workers in Johannesburg will down tools for three days starting on Monday, the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) said. The Johannesburg Labour Court on Friday overruled the city’s application for an interdict to prevent the strike.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
Microsoft is to extend the availability of its Windows XP operating system, the company announced on Friday. Industry analysts said that the move reflected hesitancy by buyers to adopt XP’s replacement, Windows Vista, especially in the business community.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
Rwanda joined other countries on Friday in appealing for a global moratorium on executions, saying that if its government could abolish the death penalty while perpetrators of the 1994 genocide still await sentences, no country should use it. About 500 000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were massacred in 100 days of frenzied killing led by radical Hutus.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
In repressive Burma, the festival of Thingyan or New Year is the only time residents can let their hair down, dousing each other with water pistols as temperatures soar. With windows tightly closed, in the midst of a military convoy, we were hurtled through it.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
The United States on Friday warned that Somali Islamist militants might kidnap Western tourists on vulnerable Kenyan beaches. In a message to US nationals in Kenya, the US embassy in Nairobi said it had received information that Islamic extremists from southern Somalia may be planning kidnapping operations across the border.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
Seven new cases of the Ebola virus have been confirmed in the central Democratic Republic of Congo, taking the total number for the region to 24. ”The seven cases confirmed all come from the Kampungu area,” the epicentre of the haemorraghic fever located 150km north-west of Kananga, said a health ministry statement.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
As any writer or photographer knows, it is essential to back up your computer so that if disaster strikes your life’s work is not destroyed. But what happens if not only your computer but also your back-up system comes a cropper? Francis Ford Coppola, five-time Oscar-winning director of the Godfather trilogy and other films, knows how that feels.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
The country’s chief prosecutor has been suspended, its top cop may be wanted for corruption — and South Africans are wondering whether both are casualties in a battle for leadership of the African National Congress. The South African Broadcasting Corporation, reported on Thursday that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
No image available
/ 29 September 2007
A bomb attack on a bus carrying Afghan army troops killed at least 27 people on Saturday in the capital, a witness said. Police at the scene initially said it was a suicide bomb attack, but one official said it could have been caused by a large land mine. Residents helped police pick up pieces of flesh and put them into plastic bags.