More than 90 countries or disputed territories are contaminated by unexploded weapons, and more than 50 by anti-vehicle mines, according to the first global survey of their impact on civilians, aid workers and peacekeepers, published on Monday.
The former Italian hostage who saw her rescuer shot dead at a United States checkpoint in Baghdad said on Sunday they might have been targeted because of US objections to Italy’s policy of negotiating with kidnappers. Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the far-left daily Il Manifesto, was wounded as bullets ripped into the car taking her to Baghdad airport to be flown out of Iraq.
Syrian forces will on Monday begin withdrawing to the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon amid intense international pressure for a swift and total pullout. The troops will move after a meeting in Damascus between the Syrian and Lebanese presidents, the Lebanese Defence Minister Abdul-Rahim Murad said, adding that the moves would be completed in two to three days.
Naming your school after socks (yes, the ones you wear on your feet) may not inspire much confidence that it’s a place that takes itself seriously. But not even the smelliest hosiery is likely to bring down the Makause Combined School outside Witbank in Mpumalanga, writes Ufrieda Ho
Zimbabwe’s prospects of attracting new mining investment inflows have been dealt a crippling blow by the government’s decision to sweep aside international agreements that permitted a major platinum producer to use its current export earnings to help fund its continuing capital developments. Last week, platinum producers lost their rights to hold the proceeds of their mining activities in offshore bank accounts.
At a recent GDE (Gauteng department of education) conference on inclusion, someone from the floor asked when we can expect full inclusion to take place in our schools. The speaker, an official representing the Department of Education (DoE), said that the date it is working towards is 2024.
In August, I was asked to share some of the “cutting-edge essence” of my 35 years of experience with OBE in two seminars at the University of Pretoria. It was an exciting day for me – an opportunity to address some of the most basic concepts surrounding OBE thinking and practice in South Africa and elsewhere, and to respond to a host of deep and challenging questions about learners, learning and learning systems.
Afghanistan is on the verge of becoming a ”narcotic state” with its biggest annual crop of opium since the overthrow of the Taliban, the United Nations drug control board warned last week. The increase is a blow to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said in 2000 that the war against the Taliban was an opportunity to eradicate the poppy harvest, which is the source of three-quarters of all the world’s heroin.
The flat plains and big skies of Kansas serve as a reassuring backdrop to America’s emotional landscape. In the national mythology, Kansas (the size of Austria; the population of Latvia) is not just any state but a cultural comfort blanket. Like motherhood, apple pie, little league and homecoming, it represents all that is steady, regular, wholesome and decent in America. Look a little deeper, and this facade is shattered by reality.
Don’t worry about SMSing ruining spelling. It is more the ability to express oneself that may be lost. Claims that the explosion in SMS messaging among children is eroding youngsters’ literacy skills appear to be unfounded, according to research, writes Lucy Ward