Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Conal Urquhart

Creator

Conal Urquhart

Sue Townsend, creator of Adrian Mole, dies aged 68

Sue Townsend, who achieved worldwide success with publication of her best-known work, "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 ¾", has died.

Director Peter Jackson speaks during a panel for ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ during Comic Con International convention in San Diego.
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The Hobbit to be extended to three films

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will add a third film to turn the Tolkien novel into a trilogy, with the first set for release in December.

Kenyan student arrested after apparently eating house mate’s heart

Cops kill naked man caught chewing off victim’s face

Police in Miami have shot a naked man whom they found biting the face of another man. But even then he didn’t stop chewing. So they shot him again.

Stage set for violent death

Did public opinion turn on murdered director Juliano Mer-Khamis for performing plays that went against conservative Islamic values?

Israel’s Iron Dome defence in its infancy

Israel’s Iron Dome defence in its infancy

The initial success of Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defence system has been hailed as an example of "Jewish genius".

UN compilers split over Gaza report rebuttal

UN compilers split over Gaza report rebuttal

The UN has roundly rebuffed remarks by South African judge Richard Goldstone that cast doubt on the report into the Gaza war.

Israeli leader risks losing office

Israel’s government faces fresh upheaval on Monday when the Labour party begins primaries for a new leader who could deal a final blow to Ehud Olmert’s tenure as Prime Minister.…

Tunnels for hire as Gaza’s smugglers risk their lives

The sun has dropped below the horizon and the muezzins in Gaza and Egypt produce two distinct walls of sound at either side of the deserted strip that buffers the border.…

A tale of two families

Cowering from the bombs in the Tyre Rest House Resort, the coastal city’s smartest hotel, along with 450 others, the Ahmad family had long since run out of food. Even if they…

Palestinian minister takes $20-million into Gaza

The Palestinian foreign minister returned to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday from a trip abroad with an estimated -million packed in 12 separate suitcases, according to officials.…

Egypt’s Bedouin fear they will take the blame

This week’s Red Sea bombing has left the Bedouin people of the Sinai feeling three times injured. Four of their children were seriously injured, their tourism-dependent…

Israel won’t accept Hamas in poll

The Palestinian Authority will postpone parliamentary elections if Israel bars Palestinian residents of Jerusalem from participating. Israeli officials said they would not allow…

Jordan’s fragile calm destroyed

At least 57 people were killed and more than 100 injured when suicide bombers blew themselves up at three hotels in Amman, the capital of Jordan, on Wednesday night. The hotels —…

Israel’s ‘revenge killings’

From a distance of 70m and through the sight of his machine gun, Assaf could tell that the Palestinian man was aged between 20 and 30, unarmed and trying to get away from an…

Double blow for settlers in Gaza protest

Opponents of Ariel Sharon’s plan to evacuate thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank faced a double setback on Wednesday when police…

Israel may outlaw anorexic models

Adi Barkan, an Israeli photographer and model agent, became acutely aware of the pervasiveness of anorexia when he interviewed 12 000 females, aged 13 to 24, in a televised…

US sanctions on Israel

The United States has imposed sanctions on Israel after a dispute over Israel’s sale of drones — unmanned aerial vehicles — to China, according to news reports. The US has…

Gaza settlers may go to West Bank

Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank will be able to use the compensation they receive from Israel to build homes in other West Bank settlements, the…

‘Sharon in danger of assassination’

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, is in danger of assassination at the hands of Jewish extremists, according to Shimon Peres, the leader of the country’s Labour Party. The…

Two towns on the frontline

Avi Yehudai’s white Fiat Punto is splattered with shrapnel and his daughter’s bedroom has been destroyed. Cracks are visible in the walls of his house and its front needs…