A tapeworm, a cockroach and the famous dead are among the characters in Nadine Gordimer’s <i>Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black</i>.
<b>DVD REVIEWS:</b> Shaun de Waal looks at the DVDs to look out for this month.
Franschhoek’s Literary Festival brings together some of South Africa’s brightest new talent, writes Judy Bryant.
Zimbabwe’s opposition on Friday disputed results of a March 29 presidential election released by electoral officials, saying opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off. The official data showed Tsvangirai had 47,9% of the vote, beating President Robert Mugabe with 43,2%, but short of the majority needed to avoid a run-off ballot.
Jane Rosenthal reviews <i>Beethoven was One-Sixteenth Black</i> by Nadine Gordimer.
<b>ON CIRCUIT:</b> <i>Iron Man</i>, <i>Made o Honour</i>, <i>Semi-Pro</i> and <i>The Walker</i>
<b>NOT QUITE THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK</b>: Shaun de Waal looks at the latest work of Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, called <i>My Blueberry Nights</i>.
A former German army officer involved in two failed plots to assassinate Hitler, but who remained undetected until the end of World War II, has died aged 90, his family said on May 2. Philipp von Boeselager was one of eight officers who planned to shoot Hitler and SS head Heinrich Himmler in March 1943.
Senior Labour figures said on Friday the party needed to re-engage with voters after it suffered a drubbing in local elections while delighted Tories said they were on course to win the next general election. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party was on course to lose around 200 council seats — around a quarter of the party’s councillors.
Barack Obama was showing signs of campaign fatigue. Sitting on a picnic bench in a park on Pagoda Street, Indianapolis, in discussion with a group of 30 supporters, he told a story about the ”modest” background of himself and his wife, Michelle. And 10 minutes later, seemingly having forgotten, he told them it all again.