No image available
/ 29 October 2004
The profession has worked hard to change its image in recent years, and now geishas are concerned that Steven Spielberg’s new movie may exploit them, writes Justin McCurry.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
The lizard biriani served on a Jet Airways flight in India proved just too spicy for a startled passenger who is taking the private carrier to court. The airline admitted in a statement published on Friday that it has launched an inquiry into how the two-inch lizard came to be cooked and served up to businessman Ashok Sharma.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
South Africa will give consideration to reviewing its policy on the ownership by foreign interests of South Africa’s banks, says Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel. In Parliament, he said the current policy "is informed by the view that four major banks is the minimum number necessary to ensure a certain level of competition in the market".
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
”No cigarettes please,” comes the request, ”as the smoke can interfere with our spirit photography.” It is nearly midnight, a few days before Halloween, in the self-styled most haunted city in Britain, and the ghost hunters are getting to work. York claims more spooks per square mile than anywhere else in the country, perhaps even Europe.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
A British former MP left bankrupt and publicly disgraced just three years ago has recouped much of his riches by exploiting his notoriety in the world of show business, a report said on Friday. Neil Hamilton, who was left with debts of £3-million in mid-2001, has now bought a million-pound manor house.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
Gunshots were heard until early on Friday as angry youths carrying stones and sticks roamed the streets of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, two days before the scheduled end of a United Nations campaign to disarm fighters from the West African state’s civil war. A riot spread throughout the night across the city.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
A bomb attack in Athens on two buses carrying riot police caused no injuries early on Friday, but sparked fears of a reinvigorated leftist radical scene after a pre-Olympics crackdown. The remote-controlled bomb was placed at the railings by the side of a road and went off just after 7am local time when the buses drove by.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
The evening news contains footage of bombs exploding in Baghdad and the ensuing carnage, as well as gruesome details from crime cases such as the murder of Leigh Matthews. SABC2 on Friday launches a news programme with the big news explained for kids.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
Justin Cartwright’s entertaining <i>The Promise of Happiness</i> debunks the myth of the formula: getting married and having children who survive to adulthood ensures happiness, writes Fumane Diseko.
No image available
/ 29 October 2004
Ranging from the funny and far-fetched to the downright ridiculous, Alexander McCall Smith’s collection of stories are of ordinary people in outlandish situations, told with irony and wit, writes Sarah Kiguwa.