No image available
/ 9 November 2005
With a handful of albums and awards, Blind Mississippi Morris Cummings, a harmonica-wailing fixture in Memphis since the 1980s, is cut from the same downtrodden, wayward cloth as many bluesmen who came before. ”This morning before sunrise, them old blues came a calling/I lay alone in my bed/That sad and lonely, empty feeling makes you wish you were dead,” Cummings sings in Morning Before Sunrise.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
A tangle of pipes and metallic towers rises over the shimmering, rock-strewn desert north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The gleaming oil refinery is the jewel of Sudan’s oil boom, the mid-point of a 1 440km pipeline from the southern oilfields to the Red Sea that is projected to pump 500 000 barrels a day by the end of this year.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
Maria Ramos, group chief executive of transport parastatal Transnet has scooped another prestigious award — this time, the highly coveted business leader of the year for 2005. The award, given by the <i>Sunday Times</i>, is based on votes by the chief executive officers of 100 top JSE-listed companies.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
When a United States soldier dies in Iraq his comrades immediately know about it because all communications at the base are cut-off pending notification of the family. Within minutes of a death being reported, commanders order all outside phones, along with internet access, closed in order to prevent families finding out by chance about a death or worrying after hearing of an incident.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
Steel maker Mittal Steel South Africa on Wednesday reported a 37% decline in headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the September quarter to 221 cents from 353 cents in the September 2004 quarter. Compared with the June quarter, when HEPS amounted to 369 cents, the September quarter reflected a 40% decline.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
They are gathered, as every night, on the edge of the car park at the foot of the block. Far enough into the shadows not to be easily seen; close enough to the stairwell to leg it inside if the police come near. Sylla, Sossa, Karim, Rachid, Mounir and Samir are the names they give. The oldest is 21, the youngest 15.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
![]()
The Scorpions have signalled their preparedness to entertain a plea bargain in the Jacob Zuma corruption case, media reports said on Wednesday. Sources close to the Scorpions suggested there was little appetite within the organisation to see Zuma behind bars for 16 years, the minimum sentence in serious fraud cases.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
Egypt holds its first round of parliamentary elections on Wednesday in a closely watched test of the government’s self-proclaimed reform agenda. President Hosni Mubarak has promised ambitious political reforms to open up the one-party state he has ruled for 24 years. But months of protest followed when it became clear the proposed changes would be strictly limited.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
Every year, more than a half-a-billion people suffer agonising pains and fevers because of malaria, a disease that is entirely preventable and curable. In Africa, someone — normally a child — dies every 30 seconds from this disease, causing unimaginable grief, human suffering and economic stagnation.
No image available
/ 9 November 2005
On television around the world and even toasted by the Japanese embassy in Washington, Yumi Yoshimura and Ami Onuki, the two 30-something women who form the duo "Puffy," are learning the unlikely role of Japanese pop ambassadors. Puffy have suddenly succeeded where few Japanese pop artists have before — finding a fan base overseas.