No image available
/ 13 December 2004
A groundbreaking trial of random roadside saliva testing for illegal drugs turned up trumps in Australia on Monday with one in eight of the first batch of drivers turning in a swab that contained traces of cannabis. In the year-long trial, the first of its kind in the world, Victoria police Victoria expect to check the ”gob swabs” of 9 000 drivers.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
Women who suspect that the lean, muscled divorcee they married lets himself go as soon the ring is on his finger have been given scientific backing. A study of nearly 40 000 American men aged between 40 and 75 found that men who remarry put on weight and exercise less.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
Ceasefire violations are on the rise in Sudan’s bloodied Darfur region and the fighting is poisoning peace talks where government and rebel negotiators met on Monday for the first time, officials said. ”We can’t have meaningful negotiations in this situation,” said Assane Ba, a spokesperson for the African Union mediating the talks.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
Israeli troops will withdraw from Palestinian cities and towns for 72 hours during next month’s Palestinian presidential election, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday. Israel has said it will do its utmost to allow the election of the Palestinian Authority president to go smoothly.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
As the first sub-Saharan African nation to shake free of colonial rule, Ghana helped chart the region’s familiar downward path: post-independence euphoria followed by despotic leaders, corruption, economic decline — and often war. But Ghana has now extended its record of consecutive democratic elections to four.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
An attempted escape at Boksburg prison, which resulted in warders being taken hostage, has been brought under control, a warder said on Monday. By 3pm, the held warders had been freed and the group of prisoners had been reincarcerated, said a warder at the prison, who did not want to be named.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
Musica has launched South Africa’s first large-scale music download service on its website. It is comparable with any overseas service, legal and priced affordably for the country’s market, the music retail group announced on Monday. Music lovers will be able to download songs of their choice for R10 a track.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
Germany is to cancel a 67-million-euro (,68-million) debt owed by following an agreement signed in Addis Ababa on Monday between Ethiopian Minister of State for Finance and economic Planning Mulu Ketsela and German Federal Minister of State Kerstin Muller.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
Japanese men who want to rest their weary heads this Christmas season are finding comfort in the lap of a woman — made of foam. The torso-less ”lap pillow” stands upright like a small cushion and resembles a woman’s legs in a miniskirt. ”Single men find this soothing,” said Mitsuo Takahashi of the seven-employee manufacturer Trane KK.
No image available
/ 13 December 2004
A suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people in Baghdad on Monday, as Iraq’s interim president cited the decision to disband Saddam’s army and key ministries as a contributing factor to the violence over the last 18 months. The explosion took place at the entrance to the Green Zone, the vast fortified complex that houses in the interim Iraqi government and the British and US embassies.