Something very odd is happening on Wall Street. As the Dow Jones powered towards the 11 000 landmark this week, applauded enthusiastically at the closing bell, Nasdaq, home of the glamorous technology and Internet stocks, has been moving in the opposite direction. The two markets are increasingly being decoupled. On some 40% of trading days […]
The Ministry of Health says it needs proof of the effectiveness of AZT before it can accept discount offers for the drug. Aaron Nicodemus reports The Ministry of Health has so far refused to accept Glaxo Wellcome’s offer of a reduced price for anti-retroviral drugs, and maintains that there is not enough proof that anti-retroviral […]
As a venue, the expansive informality of the restaurant atmosphere within On Broadway provides a perfect platform for the staging of British playwright John Godber’s outrageous comedy, Bouncers. There’s something appealing about watching a play that explores the dynamics of nightclub culture in a performance space smack in the midst of Cape Town clubland. Thematically, […]
THE International Monetary Fund and Ghana on Monday signed a $209-million dollar-year loan program, with a first tranche of $30-million available immediately, the Fund said. The 1999-2001 program aims to reach economic growth of 6% from 5,6% in 1998, and to beat down inflation to 5% by 2001 from 19,3% last year, the Fund said […]
John Matshikiza It isn’t that easy to track down the leader of God’s People’s Party. Perhaps I was wrong to try to make contact by telephone first. The listed number rang for some time, and was then answered by a humble, black female voice. Her name was Elsie. I asked for her leader by name. […]
WALLABY winger Ben Tune will defy a request by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and play for Queensland in Saturday’s Super 12 clash against South African team the Cats. ARU doctor John Best wanted Tune, 22, to take a month off to allow his injured knee to heal in time for this year’s international season […]
Gabriel Garca Mrquez on the crusading Colombian who could be the new Pope Cardinal Daro Castrilln Hoyos sleeps in the bed that Pope Pius XII died in. The painting of the Immaculate Conception hanging above the bronze bedhead once belonged to Leo XIII. His apartment, lying 30m from the border between Italy and the Holy […]
Alex Brummer in Omaha, Nebraska A record 15 000 shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway – the world’s most eclectic investment group – gathered in Omaha, United States, recently in the hope of catching the sage words of their chair and CEO Warren Buffett at the group’s annual meeting. The crowds attending the meeting at the Ak- […]
people Aaron Nicodemus After getting over the initial shock of being told that he was HIV-positive, Oziel Mdletshe (31) wrestled with informing his family, his girlfriend and his closest friends. Once he was assured he had their love and support, he struggled with telling everyone else in KwaMashu, a community outside Durban that has a […]
Salman Rushdie tells Sam Wollaston why his new novel is about the greatest band in the world – from India On a warm August evening, Salman Rushdie walked on to the stage and looked out over a sea of screaming fans. It was hard to see much beyond the first row, the photographers and security […]