A Second Look : Timothy Trengove-Jones aIt is a truism that the love which once dared not speak its name is now unstoppably voluble. On stage, on screen, in the media, yes, even on the streets, homosexuals are articulating their presence with increasing confidence. And, on November 25 1997, almost 100 years after the (in)famous […]

Barry Meier When RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company recently test-marketed a new cigarette throughout Oklahoma, it promoted the product as having a special “flavour” filter that improved its taste. But during the cigarette’s two-year trial, company officials never told buyers that they believed that its special filter and tobacco also reduced many of the most dangerous […]

Lesley Cowling Mojalefa Murphy, one of the country’s rare black nuclear physicists who has been suspended by the Atomic Energy Corporation, hit back in the Pretoria High Court this week with a bitter attack on the AEC’s chief executive, Waldo Stumpf. Murphy, who was meant to be the new face of the AEC, has been […]

Steve Morris : Rugby There is a distinct feeling abroad that South African rugby, while it has moved up a step on the international level, is suffering from stress fractures at home. It is amazing that the only coach the Blue Bulls could settle on was Eugene van Wyk, a man they had already rejected […]

Gustav Thiel A strong lobby of lecturers and students at the University of Stellenbosch is calling for the head of rector Professor Andreas van Wyk, who they accuse of being autocratic and defeating efforts to transform the university. Van Wyk, who has been embroiled in a number of controversies since taking charge of the university […]

for you Jane E Brody The buzzword of a few years ago was beta carotene, a substance found in fruits and vegetables that was supposed to protect against cancer. Then scientific studies showed no particular benefit from taking beta carotene in pill form. Now it seems another substance in fruits and vegetables may account for […]

Science clashes with tradition over the corpse of an ancient princess. James Meek reports from Novosibirsk The princess lies in a glass casket on the West Siberian plain alongside her kinsman. She is naked save for a scrap of gauze draped across the top of her legs. Tattooed beasts – part griffin, part deer, part […]

blood Robert Armstrong : Rugby As teenagers New Zealanders learn that rugby union is a potent symbol of their nationhood. And by early manhood those who have made the grade are regarded as icons in every town, from Whangarei to Invercargill. When England face the All Blacks on Saturday they must come to terms with […]

We profile the four winners of the 1998 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Aubrey Sekhabi, 28-year-old winner of the 1998 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Drama, is “a relentless, tenacious spirit”, says Dan Robbertse of the Performing Artists Workers Equity. “He’s been doing great work in North West province as drama director with very […]

FRIDAY, 8:00AM: A LABOUR court has ordered the striking Harmony mine workers back to work from this morning. Mine management has also warned that strikers who forcibly evicted ‘official’ union shaft stewards from their offices will face charges. THURSDAY, 11:00AM: THE National Union of Mineworkers has blamed Harmony mine management for a strike by an […]