No image available
/ 31 October 2004
Palestinian officials and senior political figures met on Saturday to thrash out an ”action plan” as doctors conducted blood tests to see if Yasser Arafat is terminally ill. Despite a show of unity, all the major contenders for the succession to Arafat, who has never designated an heir, are jockeying for position.
No image available
/ 31 October 2004
A constitutional crisis at the heart of Europe was narrowly averted on Saturday after Rocco Buttiglione, the Italian nominee whose anti-gay views had blocked his appointment to the European Commission, finally withdrew his candidacy. In a parting shot, Buttiglione said he had been misquoted and portrayed himself as a scapegoat.
No image available
/ 31 October 2004
United States President George Bush moved on Saturday to seize the political advantage after Osama bin Laden’s extraordinary intervention in the US presidential election on Friday night. The campaign descended into a final bout of acrimony on Saturday as Bush and John Kerry’s sides attacked each other.
No image available
/ 31 October 2004
The venerable <i>Times</i> newspaper of London ended more than two centuries of tradition on Saturday when its last edition in broadsheet format appeared, to be replaced by a smaller, narrower newspaper that does not want to be called a tabloid. From Monday, the paper will appear in its "compact" format.
No image available
/ 31 October 2004
On the island of Flores in the Malay Archipelago, scientists have found remains of a race of 1m-high humans who hunted pony-sized elephants and rats as big as dogs, and battled dragons with saliva laced with deadly bacteria. When it comes to the fantastic, you can never beat science. Now the hunt is on for living relatives of Flores’s little folk.
No image available
/ 31 October 2004
At a special general meeting of the South African Football Association (Safa), held on Saturday in Johannesburg, Danny Jordaan’s reappointment as CEO was confirmed and the national executive committee also received an update of the preparations for the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.
No image available
/ 30 October 2004
Seven people were killed and 19 wounded when a car bomb exploded outside the Baghdad offices of an Arabic television station on Saturday, gouging a hole in the front of the building and sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air. The Al-Arabiya satellite channel had received threats in recent weeks warning it of an attack.
Zarqawi threatens Iraqi election staff
No image available
/ 30 October 2004
With the gaze of the international community fixed on next week’s presidential election in the United States, little attention has been paid to the fact that Botswana is also scheduled to go to the polls this weekend. The fact that the ruling Botswana Democratic Party is widely expected to win has contributed to the low-key coverage.
No image available
/ 30 October 2004
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday condemned riots in Liberia’s capital that left at least five people dead, and urged Liberian and West African leaders to support UN efforts to restore calm. Monrovia was under a curfew as the violence came two days before the end of a UN disarmament effort.
Violence erupts in Liberian capital
No image available
/ 30 October 2004
An Australian deep-water diver has discovered the 10-year-old remains of a fellow diver while setting a new world record, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Friday. The skeletal remains of Deon Dreyer, who died in 1994 inside Boesmansgat in the Northern Cape, were found at a depth of 271m.