The export of oil from Iraq was brought to a halt on Wednesday after attacks on two pipelines and the assassination of a top oil executive dealt a fresh blow to United States plans to hand over sovereignty at the end of the month. The attacks sent the global price of American light oil up 13 cents to ,32 a barrel and forced Opec, already pumping out extra oil to meet soaring demand, to step in.
The United States has objected to Israeli plans to expand the main Jewish settlements in the West Bank and extend construction of its controversial ”anti-terror fence” to its deepest point inside the occupied territories. Palestinian officials said both plans reinforced concerns that Sharon intended to use the removal of settlers from the Gaza strip as a pretext for entrenching Jewish towns in the West Bank.
”My good friend Roosevelt,” the handwritten letter begins. ”I don’t know very English, but I know as much as to write to you. I like to hear radio and I am very happy because I heard in it that you will be president for a new period.” The author of the letter then makes a somewhat forward appeal.
The world’s first mobile phone virus, capable of sending itself between handsets, has been discovered by an internet security company in Moscow. The Cabir virus is designed to attack the top-of-the-range models of brands such as Nokia which use the common operating system Symbian.
A sparkling, bright blue cap, and a mask for the nose and mouth await visitors at the main door. Before being let into the building, visitors are also handed a pair of nylon socks to cover their shoes: mandatory attire for touring Africa’s only condom manufacturing firm.
Back in the bad days of apartheid when gambling was a no-no and boobs were terribly naughty, Sun City was something of a brash old tart, pimping herself as a den of decadence in the dusty Bantustan of Bophuthatswana. Twenty years on and the old matriarch is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. <i>Escape</i> looks at what’s hot this winter at Sun City.
Imagine a children’s picture-book version of the Garden of Eden, and you can begin to picture how every inch of Uganda hops, flutters and crawls with life. The countryside is a lustrous, velvety green. It teems with birds, deer, buffaloes, warthogs and hippos — and, of course, insects. <i>Escape</i> travelled to Uganda to visit one of the last remaining habitats of the mountain gorilla.
On the recent weekend of European Union accession, Budapest was taking it all in its stride. There were street parties, festivals and the museums were free for two days. But nowhere in this handsome city did it feel like a blissful new dawn. Then again, why should it? As a phlegmatic local remarked, "Hungary is already in Europe.” With its plethora of visual feasts and tempting asides Budapest offers itself as a destination with bite.
Whether you’re travelling for a week on business or taking a year off to trudge around the world with a backpack, there are bound to be people you really want to stay in touch with while you are away. Good news on the travel communication front is that a new South African innovation — called v4t — offers the convenience of roaming at a much more attractive price tag.
George Bizos is wending his way through street peddlers and lunchtime pedestrians when heads start to turn on the crowded downtown sidewalk. Quickly come shouts of ”Umeli Omkhulu” — the Big Lawyer. Nelson Mandela may be the international face of South Africa’s transformation to a multiracial democracy, but Bizos is honoured as an important combatant in the struggle to topple apartheid.