No image available
/ 6 November 2004
United States forces were on Friday night awaiting final orders to storm Fallujah, the resistance stronghold, in what is expected to be the bloodiest assault since the invasion of Iraq last year. As the US stepped up air raids, blocked roads into the city, and issued loudspeaker warnings to the population to leave, the interim Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, indicated that time had almost run out.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
A reported accident at a nuclear power plant in central Russia spread panic on Friday, as residents rushed to buy radiation antidotes despite official assurances that the malfunction was a minor glitch. Universities in Samara, 300km north-east from the plant, were closed and businesses advised employees to stay home and close the windows.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
The European Union and the United States recommitted themselves to a smooth transatlantic relationship on Friday and hoped the second term of US President George Bush will no longer be marred by nasty political and trade disputes. But French President Jacques Chirac remained wary of Washington’s global economic and political clout.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
The first results of an investigation into the murder of controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, whose suspected assailant has ties to radical Islamists, point to a ”terrorist conspiracy”, prosecutors said on Friday. Seven people with ties to Islamic groups are to be charged with involvement in a terrorist conspiracy.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
Police in western Germany were called to a city church on Friday after two women began fighting outside because one of them could not stand the other’s incessant sneezing during a service. A 28-year-old woman began insulting another woman whose cold could not be controlled at the church in Kaiserslautern, city police said.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has given the Department of Correctional Services 14 days to reinstate 127 prison workers dismissed for striking illegally. The 127 Modderbee prison officials were dismissed during an illegal strike in July, after ”defiantly” ignoring ultimatums to disengage.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
Darfur rebels killed a mayor, abducted 10 children and injured four police officers in fresh unrest in the troubled western region of Sudan, news reports and police said on Friday. Local authorities have reported the incident to the African Union ceasefire commission charged with monitoring a fragile truce in Darfur.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
Fancy a bit of bhaji? You’ll need a big bite to put away the biggest fried onion ball in the world, which set a record on Friday weighing in at an astounding 84kg, event organisers said. The big bhaji — a fried and breaded South Asian snack — swells to a diametre of 86cm, the organisers said.
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
Rustum Kozain reviews Making the Changes: Jazz in South African Literature and Reportage, which investigates the role and manifestations of jazz in South African literary culture, and South Africa in the Global Imaginary
No image available
/ 5 November 2004
If Internet piracy is hurting Hollywood so much, why is the US box office healthier than ever? Far from destroying the film industry, movie downloading has made it raise its game, exploit its visual advantages, and lower its prices. John Sutherland reports.