A few weeks ago a tele-vision reviewer for one of the national dailies filed his opinions on the hit drama, The Sopranos. He was appalled to learn that the show was nothing but an orgy of violence, betrayal and sexual infidelity. Of course it is. What is surprising is that he was surprised.
Cherie Blair repeatedly urged her husband to sack Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown as she became incensed by his behaviour towards the prime minister, a family friend of the Blairs has disclosed. Barry Cox, who has known the couple for 30 years, said that while the relationship between Blair and his chancellor had been strained since the mid-1990s, the prime minister finally began to believe the worst of his successor during his final year in office.
Three years into Transnet’s turn-around, Maria Ramos has swapped her customary high heels for a pair of sturdier shoes, as financial and management restructuring gives way to an enormous operational overhaul of the rail, port, and pipelines businesses. The past fortnight has seen announcements about a better deal for pensioners, the R1,4-billion sale of the housing loan book to FNB, and the planned disposal of the Carlton Centre.
A restricted United Nations report says the human-rights situation in the Western Sahara is of serious concern. The report, released this week by the office of the UN’s high commission for human rights, says ”the Saharawi people are not only denied their right to self-determination, but … severely restricted from exercising a series of other rights …
Since its launch just more than a decade ago, the al-Jazeera satellite TV station has transformed the politics of the Middle East. For the first time, people in the region had access to a genuinely free and independent source of news and comment that was neither under the control of dictatorial regimes nor of Western states or corporations.
What happens when one and a half million human beings are imprisoned in a tiny, arid territory, cut off from their compatriots and from any contact with the outside world, starved by an economic blockade and unable to feed their families? Some months ago, I described this situation as a sociological experiment set up by Israel, the United States and the European Union, writes Uri Avnery.
You’ve gone grey, a long-time friend said looking at me in embarrassment. Perhaps he thought I had gone grey overnight. Not so. My silver-grey head of hair was 20 years in the making. ”You should talk to Jenny; she does something to her hair every week,” he told me.
When I glanced through the June 8 <i>Mail & Guardian</i>, I noticed the article "Selebi se galery kry nog ‘n rakker". I confess to being surprised, pleased, intrigued and then, as I read, troubled. Surprised because, yes, in this very English-language publication, it was surprising to find an article written in another South African language, writes Robert Balfour.
Public-service unions on Sunday said there would be no wage deal with until at least Wednesday. Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha said unions needed more time to consult members on government’s final proposal.
Gauteng residents should brace themselves for a strong cold front and isolated showers accompanied by wind in the coming week, the National Forecast Centre said on Sunday. Forecasters said the chilly weather should be expected in the middle of the week, with chances of light isolated showers on Tuesday.