No image available
/ 17 November 2004
The family of Margaret Hassan on Tuesday night accepted that the aid worker taken hostage by Iraqi insurgents a month ago had probably been murdered, after analysis of a video which showed a masked gunman shooting a blindfolded woman in the head.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=125665">’We believe she has been murdered'</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=125660">US, Iraqi troops target Mosul</a>
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
South Africa’s educational system has to deal with the legacy of apartheid. Many poorer, mainly black, households do not have access to schools with functioning maths and science departments. Centre for Development and Enterprise research shows that almost one-fifth of secondary schools do not offer senior certificate maths and science at all, while a third of the schools that do achieve pass rates between nought and 19%.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
Vuyo Maqhina has just been turned down for a micro-loan. He takes home about R240 of his monthly salary after deductions for an earlier loan and a furniture hire-purchase account. "You have too many loans … How are you going to pay us?
" the micro-lender asked him. Maqhina is fairly typical of the 400 people who walk through the doors of the You & Your Money debt advice centre in Cape Town every year.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
Hyundai has expanded its model line in South Africa with the arrival of the stylish Tucson SUV, which slots in below the Santa Fe in terms of price and size. Despite the Tucson being very affordably priced, the models we drove all seemed solidly built, and the designers haven’t skimped on the little wagon’s specifications.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
The general feeling among South Africans is that Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has his hands tied behind his back. They are referring to the withdrawal of star midfielder Steven Pienaar and defender Mbulelo Mabizela prior to the ”clash of the icons” against Nigeria for the Mandela Challenge Cup at Ellis Park Stadium on Wednesday night.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
Dingaan ”Rose of Soweto” Thobela is not done yet. The 38-year-old fighter will fight Lucian Bute over eight rounds in the light heavyweight division in Canada on December 3. Bute (26), a novice with only eight knockout wins in as many fights, will take on the 38-year-old veteran of 54 fights.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
These are dark days in the United States, the darkest in recent memory for women’s reproductive rights. Women across the country are shuddering in their bathrobes to hear George W Bush use the word ”mandate” to describe his recent election victory. Just look at what he did when he so clearly didn’t have a mandate, back in 2000. For the first time in recent history, Roe v Wade is seriously imperilled.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
The United States’s well-funded green lobby mounted an unprecedented effort to oust US president George W Bush, denouncing his environmental record as the worst in US history. Now they are reduced to hoping, against the odds, that the former oil executive will address climate change, energy security and biodiversity in his search for a lasting legacy.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday he hopes to wrap up by the end of the week the first round of peace talks with government, opposition and rebel leaders in Côte d’Ivoire, aiming to pinpoint obstacles to implementing a peace plan. Mbeki visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday.
No image available
/ 17 November 2004
Ancient Greeks knew it as a cure for bellyaches. Roman emperors used to spice their wine with it. And Turkish Sultans’ harem ladies chewed it for fresh breath and fighting boredom. Mastic, the aromatic resin produced by a small, eponymous evergreen tree that grows around the Mediterranean sea, has been a big hit for more than 2 000 years.