At 22, Sam Brett is one of Australia’s most widely read writers. But it’s not her insights into politics, the economy or even sport that have her readers hooked. The pithy columns on Brett’s blog are far more personal, delving instead into the intricacies of sex and relationships in the cyber-age. One day’s talking point will be why men cheat; another’s whether office relationships always end badly.
<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> While not an uplifting experience for the moviegoer, <i>Vera Drake</i> makes for a touching, sometimes funny, and in the end strangely satisfying movie, writes Shaun de Waal.
The suspension of Connie Molusi as the chief executive of the media group Johncom this week is being treated as a standard boardroom drama, pitting the CE against the board chairman Mashudu Ramano. The word is that Ramano is in alliance with Caxton’s majority shareholder, Terry Moolman, the enigmatic media baron who reportedly wants to step into Molusi’s shoes.
<i>We Remember Differently</i> is an exceptionally moving treatment of major South African preoccupations: race, identity, memory, desire, love, eroticism, women’s domestic and social entrapment, mothers and daughters. This short film will provoke rich debate, suggests David Macfarlane.
The good news is house prices are up 14% on last year. The bad news is this is the slowest growth in prices in four-and-a-half years. While lower transfer fees — after lower transfer fees were announced by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel in the Budget — were expected to bring resilience to the sector of the market up to R1-million, the cooling down in prices is across all sectors.
Local play <i>Cards</i> is graphic in its depiction of inner-city prostitution, yet audiences are laughing it up, writes Malena Amusa.
Hit animated show The Simpsons is notching up its 350th episode, and ”the shows we’re doing now are just as good as any I’ve been involved with”, its executive producer tells Andy Goldberg.
Police will launch special operations in the coming six months to combat serious and violent crimes, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula announced on Friday. ”We would bring to the attention of the criminals out there that we’re going to be on their necks,” Nqakula vowed.
Three years after the American invasion of Iraq, we are witnessing the beginning of another massive military operation to force a regime change in the Middle East — this time by Washington’s strategic regional ally, Israel, in the occupied territory of Palestine.
The United States government said it could not find the men that Guantánamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The Guardian found them in three days. Two years ago the American military invited Mujahid, a former Afghan police commander accused of plotting against the US, to prove his innocence before a special military tribunal.