Hunger striking is an ancient Celtic tradition. In the Middle Ages it was given recognition in the Irish legal system. An individual who had a complaint against another would hunger strike on his doorstep, either until the dispute was settled, or until he died. If he died, the law recognised the justification of his grievance […]

DONIZETTI: La Fille du Regiment (Nightingale Classics) ONE of the leading coloratura sopranos of our time (perhaps even of all time), Edita Gruberova is busy recording all the lesser-known Donizetti heroines for this small Swiss company. The added attraction of this recording for South African listeners is that it features Deon van der Walt in […]

Kathy Evans Osama Bin Ladin, who organised thousands of Arab volunteers in the Afghan jihad and has been linked to dozens of terrorist incidents, is homeless after being forced to leave his haven in Sudan. He had been living there for the past three years with his former mojahedin fighters. According to his spokesman in […]

`THEY’VE changed everything,” said Paul Dickens, a 32-year-old civil servant, fluffing a newly spiked hairdo last weekend at the Sex Pistols’ first British gig in 18 years. You wouldn’t have known it to look at the four beer-bellied market traders on stage in Finsbury Park, north London, but these were the erstwhile swearing, gobbing punk […]

Stan Katz There has been much criticism, debate and misinformation surrounding the sale of six SABC radio stations and the role of the Independent Broadcasting Authority in the process. This is a pity because the environment which will ultimately be created, will in all likelihood, be much healthier for broadcasters. The IBA is faced with […]

There were some stutters in Tuesday’s match, but there were signs that the new Springbok team can live up to South Africa’s world champions status RUGBY: Jon Swift ANDRE MARKGRAAFF, the man charged with shaping the South African rugby side, was at some pains to dispel any idea of the South African XV playing festival […]

With the South African media industry transforming, a new class of media players is emerging. Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports on the most prominent among them An eminent group of media moguls is waiting in the wings as the South African media industry goes through a series of ownership changes. The most prominent among them is New […]

A mature, new model Monica Seles made a return to Wimbledon, but it was cut short in the second round TENNIS: Mick Cleary IT MUST have been a relief to feel the pain. It was real, it hurt and it could be precisely located. After more than two years spent chasing shadows in her mind, […]

Minister Jay Naidoo has hit the first snag in attempting to rush the sale of SABC’s radio stations, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy A BID by Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Minister Jay Naidoo to speed up the sale of six SABC radio stations by amending the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act is likely to fail. While Naidoo […]

The skirmish for Wits University’s top job continues, writes Philippa Garson THE students and academics who rallied behind Professor William Malegapuru Makgoba in his recent skirmish in Wits University’s corridors of power have turned against him and don’t want him to lead the institution. As speculation around contenders for the university’s top job grows, it […]