OWN CORRESPONDENT AND AFP, Durban | Saturday THE outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Kwazulu Natal Midlands – which has seen six countries imposing bans on South African meat and livestock – has spread to a neighbouring farm in spite of desperate efforts to contain the disease. A cow tested positive for the highly infectious […]

THE European Commission is to propose a ban on the import of all meat products from the area around Camperdown in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands where there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm last week, an EU official said. The Commission, the European Union’s executive body, will put the proposal to the […]

MARIAM ISA AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Friday SOUTH Africa’s central bank is keeping interest rates steady, in line with analysts’ expectations, saying domestic fundamentals for keeping inflation low remain favourable despite steep global oil prices. Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni reassured jittery markets by saying he was confident the bank would meet its newly […]

She’s been the queen of pop for the best part of 20 years. Without her, there would be no Britney Spears or Posh Spice. But why is Madonna, at 42, still churning out records? Julie Burchill First there’s that modish whining noise, like Eeyore having swallowed a synthesiser. Then the lumpen beat that affectionately passes […]

PETER DICKSON, Port Elizabeth | Friday HIV causes Aids – but death in most cases is from depression. That’s the opinion of Eastern Cape MEC for Health Dr Bevan Goqwana, who also believes circumcision and single-sex boarding schools to be at the cutting edge of prevention. Goqwana went public on his beliefs in Umtata last […]

One-hundred-and-forty Friday readers can each win a free double ticket to a sneak preview of Jesus’ Son on Wednesday September 27 at 8pm at Cinema Nouveau Rosebank and Cinema Nouveau Cavendish. All you have to do is present this page at the box office of the cinemas mentioned above, from 2pm on Saturday September 23, […]

Kenya Bob Woolmer >From the pavilion The first mini-World Cup Knockout was attempted in Bangladesh in 1998 to raise funds for the development of cricket throughout the world, and it proved to be a tremendous success. Capacity crowds watched some very exciting cricket. There is no doubt this latest competition, in Kenya, will be as […]

Q&A Siyabonga Twala is the latest in a not-so- long line of South African male actors who openly harbour ambitions to make a name for themselves here, and more lucratively, abroad. This Umlazi, Durban native has had a taste of life abroad with his United States tour of Duma Ka Ndlovu’s Bergville Stories (1997). Apart […]

This year’s Smirnoff International Fashion Awards featured a return to design basics Charl Blignaut I was a touch anxious as I settled into my seat for the South African leg of the annual Smirnoff International Fashion Awards at Vodaworld in Midrand last Friday night. It wasn’t the over-abundance of ruthless Pretoria kugels or the Afrikaans […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT AND REUTERS, Paris | Friday THE son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has admitted that Tripoli paid $6m to Muslim rebels on the Philippine island of Jolo to secure the release of South Africans Callie and Monique Strydom and eight European hostages in late August. Seif al-Islam, who was a key figure in […]