MONDAY, 1.00PM: THE 35-year-old United States embargo on arms trade with South Africa has been ended by an agreement between South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and US Vice-President Al Gore. The embargo opens the door to SA’s purchase of the JAS 39 Gripen jet fighter manufactured by Swedish company Saab and British Aeropace. Any […]

MONDAY, 1.30PM THE South African cycling team that will return home from Malaysia on Wednesday can boast that they are one of the most successful combinations ever to compete internationally. Thanks to Andrew McLean, who survived a potentially disastrous mechanical problem on the last stage of the Tour de Lankawi on Sunday, the South Africans […]

MONDAY 10:15AM OVERWHELMING support from the public and Bafana Bafana team members may force Jomo Sono and the South African Football Association to review their coaching deal. The South Africans, who returned home to a heroes’ welcome at the Johannesburg airport on Sunday, were all in favour of Sono staying on as coach. Bafana Bafana […]

Suzy Bell Durban is hosting the first South African festival, The Time of the Writer, at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, University of Natal from March 2 to 7, to honour local and international writers. The six-day conference, organised by The Centre for Creative Arts in conjunction with the French Institute and with assistance from the […]

FRIDAY 12:30PM BAFANA Bafana skipper Lucas Radebe will captain the natiopanl soccer squad in the final of the African Cup of Nations final against Egypt in Burkina Faso on Saturday. This will come as good news to South African supporters, as well as Radebe’s Bafana teammates and coach, as Radebe was reported not to be […]

Alan Gignoux Incredible journeys Vintage railroads left over from colonial times are becoming an increasingly scarce sight in Africa. There is, however, one railroad that continuously beats all the odds: the Xai Xai railroad. This remarkable line has survived civil wars, lack of spare parts and present-day free market changes taking place in now peaceful […]

Steve Busfield Games Consider the great board games. Think of Monopoly and you are a capitalist. Risk and you are a general. Cluedo and you play a detective. Now imagine a Monopoly board, where those fashionable London streets have been replaced by the illegal substances of the world. Instead of Old Kent Road you have […]

Benni McCarthy has scored seven goals in the Nations Cup so far, but so has Hossam Hassan of Egypt, whom Bafana Bafana meet in the final. Andrew Muchineripi reports The African Nations Cup final in Ouagadougou on Saturday will pit the flair and pace of defending champions South Africa against the cool, cunning assassins from […]

FRIDAY, 6.00PM: AFTER performing comparatively dismally for some weeks, for once gold shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange outpaced the ever record-setting financials. The market was pushed by renewed confidence in Asia and a record-setting day on Wall Street, as well as confidence in an imminent local interest rate cut. The all gold index hurtled […]

David Shapshak : Movie of the week Only a Frenchman like Jean-Pierre Jeunet could resurrect the sagging fortunes of the Alien saga. After the dismal showing of Aliens 3, where the special-effects spectacles were the only thing worth noting, Jeunet has come up with a film filled with his particular dark, abject vision, giving it […]