Barry Streek God may not play dice with the universe, as Einstein famously posited, but a church group in Caledon has a different take. The Anglican Church in the sleepy town is a partner in a bid for a casino licence. The church has taken this extraordinary decision after setting up an empowerment trust which […]

Peter Dickson A University of Fort Hare commission of inquiry has found evidence of misconduct by former vice-chancellor Professor Mbulelo Mzamane and his deputy for academic affairs, Professor Ntobeko Maqhashalala. Acting vice-chancellor Professor Derrick Swartz said this week that the two academics had been suspended by the university and would face disciplinary action. The move […]

Can a computer write fiction as good as that written by a human? Judge for yourself by going to InstantNovelist.com/human.html. Posted on the site are five 500-word stories, four written by humans, but a fifth by Brutus.1, a fiction-writing program developed by the Minds and Machines Laboratory. Only 25% of site visitors have identified it. […]

South Africa is about to start building the second-largest telescope in the world , writes David Le Page June 1 1998. A nervous astronomer sat in Parliament, waiting to hear then minister of arts, science, culture and technology Lionel Mtshali deliver his annual budget speech. Director of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), Bob Stobie, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 11.20am. AN excellent performance from lead off-pitcher Tim Harrell helped South Africa to a 5-1 win over Guam in Randburg, bringing them closer to their Olympic dream. The game was the first in a best of five series between the two countries, with the winners going on to compete in […]

The 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been interpreted by artists from 28 countries, writes Alex Sudheim As a measure of the significance of the International Print Portfolio exhibition, the United Nations was eager for the show to grace the proceedings at the world body’s New York headquarters during its recent […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The head of Edupark, a private company launched by the University of the North, has slammed a R2-million inquiry commissioned by the university as being little more than a smear campaign against the former vice-chancellor Njabulo Ndebele. Moss Leoka, the chair of Edupark, told the Mail & Guardian this week that […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH The news that American farmers have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Monsanto, for introducing “potentially dangerous genetically modified (GM) seeds to world markets without adequate testing”, couldn’t have come at a better time. Following so hot on the heels of the “Battle of Seattle”, the lawsuit signals that the […]

If the world does end on December 31, at least it will be having a good time. Christina Goumeas and Marthali Brand survey the globe’s millennial celebrations The first permanently inhabited place to see in the millennium officially is Pitt Island, part of the Chatham Islands, 850km east of New Zealand. Just 55 people, thousands […]

Sudan Mohamed Osman in Khartoum Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir on Sunday declared a three-month state of emergency, and state-run television said he was dissolving Parliament. Bashir said:”There are dangers against the country from abroad, and internal problems that will aggravate the country’s problems will not be allowed. In order to preserve the unity of the […]