Foreign

Moz aid planes still needed - UN agency
MAPUTO -- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday expressed concern at the planned withdrawal of international aid aircraft from flood-stricken Mozambique while the weather remains unstable. "It is too early for anyone to think of withdrawing...

Economy close to collapse -- bank
GABORONE -- The Zimbabwe economy is close to collapse, Standard Chartered Bank has warned. Most sectors of the economy are in dire straights, reports the bank in its latest Market Standard. "All indications are that Zimbabwe's economy is to det...

Zim land invasions declared illegal
HARARE -- Zimbabwe's white farmers won a court battle yesterday over the occupation of their land by independence war veterans, despite President Robert Mugabe's public approval of the invasions. High Court Judge Paddington Garwe declared the occ...

Taiwan on alert before election
TAIPEI -- The Taiwan military went on a 39-hour state of "heightened alertness" yesterday, increasing the number of servicemen on duty to counter China's war threats, military officials said. A defence ministry spokesman said the alert, which sta...

King brings horror to cyberspace
WASHINGTON -- Websites have been unable to cope with the enormous demand for horror author Stephen King's 66-page Riding the Bullet, the first book to be made available only on the Internet. Whether it is offered at R16,25 at publisher Simon and ...

Unclean syringes singled out by WHO
NEW YORK -- Up to 16 million people a year are infected with Hepatitis B by dirty syringes and re-used needles, and as many as 160000 with HIV/Aids, the World Health Organisation said. "Although most injections given in the world follow safe clin...

Clinton appeals to N Irish leaders
WASHINGTON -- In personal and direct appeals, President Bill Clinton is urging key players in Northern Ireland to restore the region's coalition government and avoid a renewal of violence. "Whatever the differences," he said, "it's not worth anoth...

The heartiest pill of all
DALLAS -- Too few heart patients are taking aspirin despite its widely known ability to prevent heart attacks, according to American Heart Association's journal Circulation. The study found that only 26 percent of patients who had heart disease a...

Saliva, urine help detect cancer
WASHINGTON-- Simple saliva and urine tests could one day replace complicated biopsies in detecting the presence of at least some types of cancer, a new US study indicates. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore report that cancer-r...

Pig cells for Parkinson's
ST PAUL, Minnesota -- US researchers have introduced cells from pig embryos into the brains of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, with positive results, a research paper said. The treatment, which is meant to replace dopamine in the bra...

'MDs must take own medicine'
PARIS -- The medical profession is bedevilled by a fear of lawsuits, humiliation and job loss that is helping to breed surgical foul-ups and treatment error, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) says. In Saturday's issue, it points to data showing t...

Microbicide against HIV likely before vaccine
WASHINGTON -- The search for a microbicide that kills the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) before it infects a person is likely to be available before a vaccine to prevent the disease. This was said by UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot durin...

London cabbies develop bigger brains
LONDON -- For London cabbies using "the knowledge" in the streets of the city every day is a brain-stretching experience, researchers have found. Part of the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with navigation in birds and other animals,...

Chocolate for the whole family
STRASBOURG -- The European parliament this week took the wrapping off a 30-year ban on the sale of British milk chocolate on the continent after years of bitter debate over what chocolate should consist of. The vote opens the way for final approv...

VIRTUAL TOY
Bandai Co's prototype pet robot, Patata, flaps its ears and shakes its body while blinking its eyes. This battery-powered virtual rabbit is currently on display at the Tokyo Toy Show. Bandai developed a built-in Patata aiming at healing people ...

FLYING FIGHTER
A bull sends bullfighter Espartaco flying, goring him during a 'fight' in Valencia, Eastern Spain. Espartaco was taken to hospital with a 20cm wound in his right leg. (AP) Eastern Cape   South Africa&n...

SLIPPERY WHEN WET
Dutch world champion swimmer Marcel Wouda models a new swimsuit at a presentation in Athens on Thursday. According to the manufacturer, the bodysuit mimics shark skin and can improve swim times by up to three percent. (AP) ...

Irish celebrate St Patrick's day
DUBLIN -- Hundreds of thousands of people attended St Patrick's Day parades across Ireland yesterday while top government figures around the world encouraged the Irish in the diaspora to come home. President Mary McAleese attended the biggest par...

NO MORE MR NICE GUY
Former England soccer captain Gary Lineker strips off his good guy image to play a demon in the latest television advert for Walkers Crisps, to be broadcast next month. The advert finds an apposite echo in South Africa where former Springbok c...