No image available
/ 23 December 2005
A teenager can get a new nose, a woman a more ample cleavage or become a virgin again — virtually any operation can be supplied for this year’s holidays. While the United States is a very religious country, it is also the one that lives up to a reputation of Christmas extravagance.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
London is turning into "Londongrad" for a growing number of Russia’s nouveau riche who see the British capital as a comfortable tax haven. "They buy in the most expensive areas — Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Chelsea, Mayfair, Kensington," said Tatiana Baker, a Russian who deals with these very special clients for upmarket real-estate agents Harrods Estate.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
"’So which part of the Eastern Cape are you from?’ I have come to accept this and ‘Why have you got a girl’s name?’ as questions I will never stop having to answer. They are a constant reminder of how much is assumed from names. After a decade of freedom, I surely have the right to say where my roots lie", writes the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>’s Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
The digital recording and playback of television programmes, along with all its accompanying features and extras, began in earnest in the United States about six years ago with the TiVo and ReplayTV systems, box-top units now estimated to be in more than 10-million American homes.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
The large vote for Evo Morales, the socialist and indigenous candidate in the presidential election in Bolivia, and the expected ratification of his success by the congress, marks a new and fascinating moment in the unrolling of radical politics in Latin America. Morales is a charismatic figure who represents important strands in Bolivia’s political traditions.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
There are layers of secrets to South African history that no one seems to want to dig up any more. Take for instance, the hi-tech murder of the president of Mozambique, who died in a deliberately created plane crash. In case you think airplane crashes don’t mean much, look at what happened in Rwanda after one little plane mysteriously crashed.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
At some point in the past 10 years or so — opinions differ as to exactly when it was — people working in the toy industry began to notice something troubling. Toy marketers, perhaps to counterbalance the idea that they spend their days playing, pride themselves on their keen business sense.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
Manoj Namburu ran a technology consulting firm in the United States before he moved to India’s hi-tech capital three years ago to build luxury houses for wealthy software executives. The villas located on the edge of the sprawling city of six million were an immediate hit with software engineers who were willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy peace in Bangalore.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
A Christmas Island frigate bird named Lydia recently completed a 26-day journey over 4Â 000km in search of food for her baby chick. The trip, tracked with a global positioning device by officials at Christmas Island National Park, is by far the longest known non-stop journey by this critically endangered sea bird.
No image available
/ 23 December 2005
Carp, the traditional Christmas meal in Central Europe, is facing fierce competition this year from newcomers such as salmon and poultry, according to worried Czech producers. Already facing pressure from poultry, carp prices have fallen by about 5% since last year, according to estimates from the biggest national carp producer.