The term "blood money" has come to have new meaning in Cameroon, where certain patients and their families complain that a brisk trade in trafficked blood has led to shortages in hospitals. "Getting hold of a pouch of blood for a patient who has urgent need of it can be an experience akin to Calvary," said Martin Djomo, the husband of someone who is dependent on blood transfusions.
United States President George W Bush’s re-election prospects received a severe setback last week when government figures from Washington showed the United States economy was producing far fewer jobs than Wall Street had been expecting.
The 32 000 July increase in non-farm payrolls was almost 200 000 down on market predictions and led to a sharp sell-off in shares and the dollar.
After 40 years working for the Soviet Union’s Interior Ministry, Ina Ilyina was naturally suspicious of what democracy would bring. But, like most people, she held on through the turmoil and trusted that better times were ahead. Now, more than 10 years later, with Russia poised to dismantle one of the signature schemes of the communist era, she speaks bitterly about her country’s leaders.
The return of abrasive flanker AJ Venter to the Springbok starting line-up for the winner-takes-all Vodacom Tri-Nations clash against the Wallabies on Saturday is a clear indication that coach Jake White is prepared to fight fire with fire. The robust loose-forward is the only change to the Springbok starting line-up for the match.
Host nation Greece won their first gold medal of the Athens Olympics when Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis triumphed in the men’s synchronised diving 3m springboard event on Monday. ”We hope that this will open the way for more medals for Greece,” said Bimis. Chinese favourites Peng Bo and Wang Kenan finished last.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
A sober mood settled over the South African camp after the jubilant party of a world-record Olympic gold medal as the team awaited news of a scan of the troublesome ankle of world high-jump champion Jacques Freitag in Athens on Monday. South Africa also didn’t fare well in two boxing events at the Games.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
An injury to the bowling shoulder of Sri Lanka’s record-breaking off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan wasn’t as bad as first feared and an operation to fix it was a success, his surgeon told Australia’s national broadcaster on Tuesday. Muralitharan will likely be sidelined for five months, but he should regain full use of his shoulder.
A delegation from Iraq’s first national conference will on Tuesday travel to the holy city of Najaf in a bold attempt to broker a peace deal with the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The group of Iraqi politicians will set off from Baghdad in a fleet of minibuses, pursuing an initiative first suggested by a distant relative of the cleric, Sayed Hussain al-Sadr.
Tumbleweed blowing across the car parks, under-worked staff in the box offices and empty seats in the stands. Welcome to Athens 2004. ”We will not be giving tickets away, and we will not be offering discounts. To do so would be unfair to those who have paid full price,” an Olympic games spokesperson, Michael Zacharatos, said on Monday, denying there were plans to, in a phrase used most commonly by failed theatre impresarios, ”paper the house”.
Australian media on Tuesday hailed Ian Thorpe’s 200m freestyle victory in the ”race of the century” at the Athens pool and crowned the swimmer this nation’s best Olympian to date. Petria Thomas’s victory in the 100m butterfly earned just as many plaudits because of the adversity the 28-year-old overcame.
Special Report: Olympics 2004