An English naturalist squats in the rainforest’s canopy, 80m up, like a pasty gorilla clad in tweed. Far below, the jungle floor roils in an apocalypse of man-eating ants, winged air-breathing piranhas and poisoned-dart-secreting toads, and where anacondas like tractor tyres possess higher brain functions and opposable thumbs. Humanity is not welcome here, but our scientist is not taking the hint …
Some places in the world make one wish, if there’s a heaven, it could be like this. <i>Earthyear</i> samples the delights of Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Retreat in the Cederberg. The whole of the Cederberg has been declared a world heritage site, not only because of its wealth of flora and fauna but also for the thousands of rock art sites created by long-extinct Bushman artists.
Sudan’s Islamist regime, once shunned by Washington for providing a haven for Osama bin Laden as well as for human rights abusers during decades of civil war, has become an ally in the Bush administration’s ”war on terror”. Only months after the then United States secretary of state, Colin Powell, accused Khartoum of genocide in Darfur, Sudan has become a crucial intelligence asset to the CIA.
A recent survey found that 31% of British people thought Easter was sponsored by Cadbury’s, while 48 % had no idea what the religious festival was about. The survey adds to evidence of how Britain has been de-Christianised in the past 50 years. What’s interesting is how peculiar this phenomenon is in a global context.
Hatem Abu Eltayef has a vision for the future of his crowded and battered town once the Israelis have retreated from the sprawling settlement on the other side of the barbed wire and machine-gun posts.The town planner of Khan Yunis, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, foresees new homes for the dispossessed, shopping strips, and tourists rubbing shoulders with locals.
Brent Johnson argues that increasing the awareness of local communities is the most important driver of positive environmental change and management, and for enhancing corporate sustainability responsibility in the South African mining sector.
Werner Seifert, the Deutsche Börse chief executive, was ousted on Monday after relentless pressure from shareholders opposed to his long-held ambition to take over the London Stock Exchange. Seifert is leaving with immediate effect to be followed by Rolf Breuer — one of Germany’s best-known businessmen — at the end of the year.
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Nine Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded in attacks around the country on Monday, police and medics said, as insurgents continued to strike at Iraq’s fledgling security forces. Four people were killed and nine wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his car into two police vehicles at a roadside checkpoint in south-west Baghdad.
Lesotho’s ruling party has won local government elections in the small mountain kingdom, the first to be held since it gained independence from Britain in 1966, an election official said on Monday. The municipal elections were to choose representatives to 129 councils, with a third of the seats reserved for women.