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/ 11 October 2004
An unexplained and unprecedented rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere two years running has raised fears that the world may be on the brink of runaway global warming. Scientists are baffled why the quantity of the main greenhouse gas has leapt in a two-year period and are concerned that the Earth’s natural systems are no longer able to absorb as much as in the past.
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/ 11 October 2004
The contest for the White House was locked in a dead heat on Sunday, with Republican and Democratic strategists looking to the third and last debate to score the convincing victory that could alter the dynamics of the race. With just three weeks until voting day, the gap between United States President George Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry has narrowed significantly.
US presidential race back in balance
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/ 11 October 2004
Ken Bigley said he only wanted to live ”a simple life” moments before he was murdered by the Islamist militants who held him captive for three weeks, it emerged on Sunday. Although he clearly realised he did not have long to live, Bigley appeared calm as he addressed the prime minister in a video posted on a website yesterday: ”Here I am again, Mr Blair… very, very close to the end of my life.
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/ 11 October 2004
I have been intrigued by Iranian life and politics since the age of nine, a passion heightened by a vague sense that my own identity is somehow bound up with the mystique of this Middle-Eastern country. So it was with both exhilaration and apprehension that, after a 12-hour wait in the duty free lounges of Dubai International, I boarded the flight to Teheran.
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/ 11 October 2004
It’s a matter of official record: matric exams are becoming easier. This was confirmed last week by Peliwe Lolwane, CEO of Umalusi, the independent body tasked with certifying the matric exams. A report released on September 21 on Umalusi’s research into standards of the matric exams stated that "higher pass rates are not a sign of examinations becoming easier".
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/ 11 October 2004
Australian captain and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer said on Monday he was flattered to be linked with a move to English Premier League football giants Manchester United. But Schwarzer said any talk of a transfer from his current club, Middlesbrough, when the premiership transfer window opens in January would be speculation.
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/ 11 October 2004
The line of electricity pylons stops abruptly the minute you step foot outside Chad’s brand new oilfield. Beyond its gates, 99% of Chadians have no access to electricity and get by using gas lamps and firelight. The Chadian government has promised to change all that with its new-found oil revenues. But can this central African country, ranked the third-most corrupt nation on the planet by the World Economic Forum, pull it off?
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/ 11 October 2004
Sparkling fifties from man-of-the-match Boeta Dippenaar, Ryan Bailey and Morne van Wyk helped the Eagles to an exciting seven-wicket victory over the Titans in their Supersport Series match at Supersport Park on Sunday. Set the task of scoring 248 off 53 overs to win, after a brave declaration by Titans skipper Daryll Cullinan, the Eagles went for it from the start.
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/ 11 October 2004
Islam Dwidar’s classmates were still taking in her shocking death — the teacher weeping outside before facing the girls, her closest friend recounting how they walked to school together each day — when the news arrived about Tahreer Abu el Jidyan. The two 15-year-old pupils at Jabaliya’s school were both shot in the head by Israeli soldiers inside their homes just a few blocks and several hours apart.
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/ 11 October 2004
If you’re interested in who’s going to be the next United States president then forget the precedents. If history is anything to go by, both John Kerry and George W Bush will win. No candidate who lost the popular vote but won the presidency has ever been re-elected. But then no president has failed to be re-elected during a major war. If Americans choose Bush, it will be from fear, a lack of choice — and a preference for power over safety.