As heartbreaking as it is to admit, our beloved city is travelling down a path of no return
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
After solid opening-leg showings, Manchester City and Hamburg are set to reach the UEFA Cup quarterfinals on Thursday.
Roger Federer expects Rafael Nadal to wilt under the physical burden of defending his French Open title when the world’s top two players continue their rivalry at Roland Garros next week. Federer slumped to his eighth dispiriting defeat on clay to the Spaniard in the Hamburg Masters final on Sunday.
No image available
/ 28 January 2008
Researchers in Germany have discovered that a protein found in semen makes HIV 100Â 000 times more virulent than it is alone — thus helping to explain why more than 80% of HIV infections are transmitted via sexual intercourse. German scientists had initially set out to determine whether semen contained factors that inhibit HIV infection.
No image available
/ 26 December 2007
A giant kite designed to help slash the spiralling cost of fuel consumption could herald the winds of change for commercial cargo shipping. The first freighter to be fitted with the hi-tech sail was launched in the north German port of Hamburg in December by Eva Luise Koehler, wife of German President Horst Koehler.
No image available
/ 2 December 2007
South African cleric Desmond Tutu was on Sunday awarded one of Germany’s most prestigious honours, the Marion Doenhoff Prize for International Reconciliation and Understanding. The retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town has become ”a symbol for peace and justice in the world”, German Economic Assistance Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said.
No image available
/ 29 November 2007
Didier Drogba scored twice in the opening 20 minutes as Chelsea stormed into the knockout stages of the European Champions League with a 4-0 triumph at Norway’s Rosenborg Trondheim. Drogba gave Chelsea an early cushion, with Alex and Joe Cole grabbing the other goals as Chelsea clinched first place in group B.
German rider Patrick Sinkewitz, who was forced to retire from the Tour de France on Monday, has tested positive for testosterone, the German cycling federation BDR announced on Wednesday. The BDR said that T-Mobile rider Sinkewitz was caught with an elevated testosterone level at an out-of-competition test on June 8.
Roger Federer produced an astonishing turnaround to beat Rafael Nadal for the first time on clay courts in the final of the Hamburg Masters on Sunday. His 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over the French Open champion underlined his belief that he has a chance of winning in Paris in three weeks’ time and to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time.
Roger Federer has split from coach Tony Roche just two weeks before the world number one tennis player makes another attempt to win the only Grand Slam title eluding him, the French Open. The announcement to end the partnership after more than two years comes during Federer’s worst slump in years.
Osasuna take a 1-0 lead into their Uefa Cup semifinal return leg against holders Sevilla while Espanyol have virtually one foot in the final after a 3-0 demolition of Werder Bremen. Roberto Soldado got the only goal for the game for Osasuna nine minutes after the interval.
A laptop, a mouse and a printer: that’s the complete list of standard equipment for many workstations. There has, however, been a certain trend of late to add more colour to the picture: cup warmers, small ”swan neck” fans and even mesmerising lava lamps have begun to make inroads into the uniformly grey PC desk landscape.
Winter failed this year on the lower slopes of Europe’s Alps, prompting fresh orders for electric-powered machines that puff out artificial snow on to the pistes when the weather does not oblige. Higher up the Alps, Europe’s highest mountain chain, there has been natural snow, but the melting of the great glaciers in the past couple of decades tells a clear story.
No image available
/ 22 December 2006
Reading manager Steve Coppell has been singled out as the 2006 Scrooge of sport — having outlawed Christmas shopping and seeing friends at home or away in the festive season for his players. ”If players have to go off Christmas shopping, it’s not the ideal preparation,” he said.
No image available
/ 7 November 2006
Where does the strange but typical ”metallic” smell come from when we touch iron objects such as tools, utensils, railings, or coins? The mystery of why such objects have no odour themselves, but leave an odour on your hands, has intrigued scientists for centuries. And more intriguing: Why does iron smell like blood?
No image available
/ 31 October 2006
Forget all those books that say the Irish invented Halloween and that Irish-Americans popularised it in the 20th century. Experts in Germany say Halloween was invented by witches in the Black Forest of Germany. Long-forgotten in Europe, the ancient Celtic holiday has become trendy among post-unification Germans.
A neo-Nazi organisation is poised to purchase a hotel in a town in Germany after local residents failed to come up with enough money to stop the sale. In a race against the clock that made headlines around the world, people in Delmenhorst near Bremen held bake sales and staged fund-raising barbecues to try to scrape together money to thwart a rich, neo-Nazi lawyers’ organisation from buying property in their town.
Roland Schoeman was to leave Hamburg on Monday with a brand-new car and 000 in his pocket after his world-record-breaking exploits over the weekend. The 26-year-old star was selected as the swimmer of the meet at the Deutscher Ring Aquatics short-course competition in Hamburg.
Roland Schoeman became the first man to dip under 21 seconds as he shattered the world short-course record in the 50m freestyle at an invitational meeting in Hamburg on Saturday. The triple Olympic medallist swam a blistering 20,98 seconds in the morning heats, bettering the previous mark of 21,10 set by Frenchman Fred Bousquet in March 2004.
![]()
Luca Toni repaid the faith shown in him by coach Marcello Lippi by scoring twice in Italy’s 3-0 win over Ukraine in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday. The victory sealed a place in the last four of the tournament, where they will meet hosts Germany, a repeat of the 1982 final. Italy won that match 3-1 and were crowned world champions for a third time.
![]()
Italy moved into the last 16 of the World Cup and sent the Czech Republic home after defeating their Group E rivals 2-0 on Thursday. Marco Materazzi put Italy in front with a towering first-half header before fellow substitute Filippo Inzaghi finished a breakaway attack in the 87th minute to ensure the Azzurri finished top of the group.
![]()
Ukraine outclassed Saudi Arabia in their crunch Group H game in Hamburg on Monday, firmly setting their stuttering World Cup campaign back on track with a convincing 4-0 win. The World Cup debutants showed their attacking intent against a toothless Saudi team from the start.
![]()
Ecuador beat Costa Rica 3-0 on Thursday to clinch qualification for the second phase of the World Cup for the first time in their history. The result means that Ecuador only need to draw with host nation Germany next Tuesday to win Group A by virtue of a superior goal difference, meaning they would avoid England if Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side win Group B.
![]()
It’s another hot night in St Pauli. Even without World Cup fever raising temperatures and other things, most nights are sizzling in this party district of sex shops, nightclubs and prostitutes. Inside the packed restaurants are giant television screens showing every match. Tonight it’s Brazil. Or is it Germany?
![]()
Argentina took a huge step towards securing a berth in the second round of the World Cup finals by beating an unlucky Côte d’Ivoire 2-1, although the African Natons Cup finalists threatened the two-time winners at the end. The Ivorians, spearheaded by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, repeatedly and clearly troubled the South American defence.
![]()
An estimated 400Â 000 prostitutes work in Germany, about 250Â 000 of whom are probably foreigners. Many were brought into the country by human traffickers from Ukraine, Bulgaria and Russia. Experts believe that between 70Â 000 and 120Â 000 women are transported to Germany for prostitution each year.
Several portable MP3 players can be as loud as a Formula One car causing irreparable damage to your hearing, the German Forum of Good Hearing (FGH) warned quoting a recent British study. The FGH said the study found that 39% of 18 to 24-year olds spent at least one hour per day listening to music via headphones with a volume of up to 105 decibels.
Michael Schumacher has been offered another lucrative two-year contract extension at Ferrari, seemingly ensuring that he ends his career at the famed Italian Formula One team and doesn’t move elsewhere. Bild said that Schumacher will earn the same annual â,¬35-million he gets under the current four-year deal he signed in 2003.
Michael Schumacher aims to stay calm and at the same time highly motivated at the San Marino Grand Prix on the weekend in an effort to close in on Formula One world championship leader Fernando Alonso. The ex-world champion Schumacher said on Tuesday that Sunday’s race in Imola, the home GP of his Ferrari team, is to start Ferrari’s comeback.
Hundreds of thousands of people spent the night without electricity after a tornado tore through the north German city of Hamburg, leaving two people dead and a trail of destruction. The powerful winds uprooted trees, brought down power lines, overturned cars and forced rail traffic to a halt, officials said on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 25 February 2006
Convicted German confidence trickster Jurgen Harksen describes in a book published in Germany on Friday how he persuaded his rich victims to keep sending him money in South Africa during a nine-year run from the law. Harksen describes how he hired a host of working-class South Africans to act the part of American bankers.
Croatia, The Netherlands, Poland, Italy and England on Saturday booked their places at next year’s World Cup finals to join fellow European qualifiers, Ukraine and Germany. Croatia beat Sweden 1-0 through Darijo Srna’s 56th minute penalty, while England also needed a penalty — scored by Frank Lampard in the 25th minute — to edge out Austria by the same score.