Musical posts=20 THE University of Cape Town’s Professor David Woods has =20 been appointed vice chancellor of Rhodes University, =20 ending a drawn-out saga in the search for a replacement =20 for Dr Derek Henderson, who retires next year. Woods =20 was also one of two candidates presented to the UCT =20 Senate in a process designed for consensus; 60 percent =20 of the Senate must confirm the selection committee’s =20 choice. The remaining candidate: Dr Mamphela Ramphele. =20
Trying for peace=20 AN intensive round of talks to break the deadlock in =20 the Irish peace process began this week as Northern =20 Ireland Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew met Irish and =20 American officials in London. US President Bill Clinton =20 visits London and Belfast next month as part of the =20 process. =20
So shut the gate=20 THE British director general of the Prison Service, =20 Derek Lewis, has been sacked after a damning official =20 inquiry into the escape of three prisoners from a high =20 security prison on the Isle of Wight earlier this year =20 — the second major escape in months. The inquiry =20 report says the breakout disclosed “a chapter of errors =20 at every level and a naivety that defies belief”.=20
You win some …=20 TENNIS star Steffi Graf lost a multi-million-mark =20 sponsorship contract with Opel this week because of =20 what the company termed “the given situation”: an =20 investigation into her tax affairs and the jailing of =20 her father. Still, she’s not been entirely abandoned: =20 Adidas and Elida Gibbs said they’d stand by the number =20 one seed.=20
… You lose some=20 A CONTROVERSIAL proposal to build a hotel, shopping =20 centre and “entertainment complex” around =20 Johannesburg’s Zoo Lake has been defeated by the =20 Johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan Council. The =20 developers — most of them white — had claimed the =20 project would promote black empowerment and that =20 opposition was clearly racist.=20
Death cells=20 JAILS in Kenya are so overcrowded that more than 800 =20 prisoners have died of disease since the beginning of =20 the year, according to Home Affairs Minister Francis =20 Lotodo. The minister told Parliament that among major =20 killers are Aids, meningitis, malaria and typhoid. =20 Political detainees and former prisoners have charged =20 in the past that prisoners are often refused medical =20
Moi? Biologique?=20 IRAQ tried and failed to produce a “small” atomic bomb =20 after its Kuwaiti invasion, according to oil minister =20 Amer Rashid. He added that had Iraq come under nuclear =20 attack during the Gulf War Iraq would have fired off =20 biological weapons.=20
Lost and found=20 POLICE in Johannesburg waited a fortnight for someone =20 to claim a suitcase abandoned at the airport, but =20 unaccountably whoever lost it has not pitched up to ask =20 for it. The suitcase, in transit from South America, =20 was transporting 12kg of cocaine. The white powder is =20 now in the police forensic laboratory. As for the =20 suitcase — well, says the police PRO, kind of =20 plaintively, nobody’s claimed it “so far”.=20
Run! It’s a fangeroo!=20 AUSTRALIAN paleontologists say they’ve discovered a set =20 of hooked fangs on the 25-million-year-old fossilised =20 remains of a kangaroo. The “fangaroo” was found in =20 Queensland, in the same World Heritage site where they =20 found the fossilised remains of a seven-metre snake, =20 called by researchers the “monty-pythonoides”.=20
Chat show=20 IN an incident bound to interest anyone who’s had to =20 avoid a weaving car driven by some guy on a cellphone, =20 a man talking on a mobile phone in Pusan walked head-=20 first into a tree and died several days later of head =20 injuries. It was, said astonished South Korean police, =20 the first known pedestrial mobile-phone death.=20
Mandela vs Mandela=20 IN response to President Nelson Mandela’s application =20 for a divorce, lawyers for his estranged wife this week =20 filed papers demanding they submit to “the African =20 cultural and traditional inkundla”. Alternatively, the =20 papers lay her claim to half the president’s assets, =20 considering her contributions towards the maintenance =20 and increase of the Mandela estate — and her role in =20 the upbringing of their minor children.=20
Nerve gas suit=20 THE families of victims of the nerve gas attack on the =20 Tokyo subway in March have announced they will seek =20 R36-million in damages from leaders of the Aum Supreme =20 Truth sect, charged in the attack. The lawsuit will be =20 filed on October 26, when the trial of Aum founder =20 Shoko Asahara and 11 followers begins.=20
Try, try again …=20 THE first women offered special forces training by the =20 South African National Defence Force have flunked out. =20 According to their commander, it was an experiment to =20 offer women training in special reconnaissance work. =20 The training was the same, although “we did lower our =20 standards for the ladies” — and only one or two =20 percent of male applicants actually complete the =20
… Or maybe not=20 THE European Court of Justice has declared unlawful the =20 use of gender-based employment quotas. In a landmark =20 decision, the court said a Bremen state law reserving =20 50 percent of all public sector jobs for women violates =20 the European Union’s 1976 Equal Treatment Directive.=20
Winning ways=20 Mail & Guardian media writer Niel Bierbaum has been =20 named runner-up in the Siemens Specialist Press =20 Association’s Journalist of the Year award for =20 Marketing Mix.=20