OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 7.20am. PROMISING South African tennis junior Dirk Stegmann advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central African tennis satellite after he beat Marcel du Coudray 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Wednesday. The 15-year-old from Willowmore will now meet top-seed Justin Bower on Thursday. Bower can […]

Ken Barris THE LOSTNESS OF ALICE by John Conyngham (Ad Donker) The Lostness of Alice, the third novel by KwaZulu-Natal author John Conyngham, is placed on the cusp of South Africa’s transition. FW de Klerk is still in power, negotiations are proceeding in fits and starts, and the pariah status of the country is only […]

Alex Duval Smith Hundreds of people have been killed along the Nigerian coast, tens of thousands have been forced from their homes, and oil production – crucial to the country’s economy – has been cut by a quarter by an escalation of unrest that shows signs of civil war. The conflict began a month ago […]

Howard Barrell : OVER A BARREL Nigeria and South Africa, radically different in so many ways, are similar in at least one respect: the way language, at least the English language, is used by many of their political intellectuals. This became apparent last year when I spent two months in Nigeria co-teaching a few courses […]

Martina Hingis is still smiling after frittering away a huge lead in the tennis rankings, reports Jon Henderson For burn out, read chill out. If Martina Hingis is indeed slipping inexorably from her pre-eminent position in women’s tennis, we could be witnessing one of the most pleasing declines in the history of sport. Rather than […]

One of the most mysterious places in the world will be the most highly surveyed, writes Alex Bellos Cold War technology is being adapted to fight drug smugglers and illegal miners who are threatening the Amazon jungle. A surveillance system (known by its Portuguese acronym, Sivam, and being set up by the Brazilian government) will […]

For Olympic marathon-winner Josiah Thugwane, who will be competing in the prestigious New York Marathon next weekend, it’s been a long, hard road to success. Gavin Evans reports When Josiah Thugwane talks of his life’s greatest achievements, he glosses over his Olympic marathon gold medal and a string of other running records and settles on […]

LEWIS MACHIPISA, Harare | Friday 7.30pm. PICKETING Harare city council workers on Friday burnt the Zimbabwean national flag and assaulted the deputy mayor as they vetted their anger over the non-payment of their October salaries. The workers have vowed not to return to work unless they get their wages. They also are calling for the […]

Angella Johnson : VIEW FROM A BROAD It is a cold Saturday afternoon and Rasheda Pahad’s hands are deep in the dough she is kneading to make vetkoek. A pan of oil is bubbling away on the stove in the kitchen attached to her tiny living room. Pahad’s husband and their two young children have […]

Anthony Browne: SHARE WORLD As the financial whirlwind that started in Thailand 15 months ago engulfs the rest of the world, it is difficult not to be pessimistic. A quarter of the world is in recession, the United States and the United Kingdom may well follow, Brazil and China are struggling, while the Indonesian economy […]