As World Health Day approaches this Saturday, international experts are focusing on the formidable and mounting threats to the world’s collective health security. These include emerging and rapidly spreading diseases, environmental change, the danger of bioterrorism, and sudden and intense humanitarian emergencies caused by natural disasters.
Of the countless stories about Clifford Roberts, the southern banker who founded Augusta National Golf Club along with Bobby Jones and who was the club’s chairperson from 1931 to 1976, there is more than a ring of truth to one about his choosing to go on holiday to South Africa because he liked apartheid.
Remember the good old days when South African teams were winning Super 14 games all over the southern hemisphere? The rare days, the fair days, when Australian teams were taking regular hidings and 22 of the best players in New Zealand were only allowed to release their testosterone reserves in the gym.
Benni McCarthy has put his hot-shoot boots firmly in it this week — by declaring a hidden passion to sign for Manchester United, the very team his Blackburn Rovers may meet in this season’s FA Cup final. After a disappointing 4-1 defeat against Sir Alex Ferguson’s title favourites on Saturday, McCarÂthy made an amazing ”come-and-get-me” plea to Manchester United.
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At last, the real World Cup has begun. Bantamweights and basket cases have been sent home and, after a fortnight of anarchy on the field — and tragedy off it — the tournament now has a chance to settle into some sort of rhythm, writes Tom Eaton.
Thailand’s army-backed government accused online video-sharing website YouTube on Thursday of being heartless and culturally insensitive for refusing to remove a clip mocking the country’s revered king. ”I don’t think they really care how we feel. Thailand is only a tiny market for them,” said Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) on Wednesday showed off innovations it said were at the heart of a plan to become a major player in the multibillion-dollar computer-game market. The company has even installed new gaming features into a home coffee table dubbed "Misto", which features a built-in computer, stereo speakers and a touch-screen for a top.
More than 70 people were injured on Thursday when a train carrying hundreds of rush-hour commuters hit the rail buffer of a Paris station, firefighters said. The driver was held for questioning by police after the nine-carriage train carrying 600 passengers struck the buffer as it pulled into the Gare de l’Est station, in eastern Paris.
A 40-year-old man who was arrested after pirate CDs and DVDs worth millions of rands were found at his Cyrildene house will appear in the Johannesburg Commercial Crime Court on Thursday, police said. Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said "boxes full" of pirated goods were found on the property
Thousands of plant and animal species are disappearing every month due to the effects of global warming, leading environmentalists say. Data has been compiled by scientists from around the world for the new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to be released in Brussels on April 6.