North American responses to anthrax highlight the apparent hypocrisy of the developed world’s position on patents Belinda Beresford Faced with the threat of a killer disease invading its borders, the Canadian government acted with commendable swiftness, acquiring a stockpile of one of the best antibiotics to treat it. But because the patent holder couldn’t supply […]

Granite: Granite, like the gladiators of ancient Rome, is the toughest of the tough, the meanest of the mean. His motto is: “You can achieve anything in life as long as you believe in yourself.” Spider: Take heed of what this “hanging man” has to say: “Make as many friends as possible and have lots […]

Niki Moore In a high-tech, sealed room in the Sugar Experimental Station at Mt Edgecombe, human figures move around in white lab coats and sterile coverings. No, they’re not developing a new killer virus to wipe out mankind as we know it they’re actually breeding thousands of caterpillars. The caterpillar in question, however, has the […]

The minister of finance also announced an increase in HIV/Aids spending Barry Streek and Glenda Daniels In the government’s first move to promote job creation through the tax system, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel this week announced tax breaks for companies that employ new workers as learners. The announcement was a key feature of the […]

John Young If your idea of a braai is burnt chops and dodgy wors over stuttering flames, then a universe-expanding experience awaits you at this weekend’s Chateau Libertas World Barbecue Championships, to be held at Canal Walk, Century City, in Cape Town. Barbecued musselcracker tandoori, rooibos-smoked tomatoes, waterblommetjie risotto and a prune, bacon and corn […]

Glenda Daniels Loyalty to a company, together with lifetime employment, is a thing of the distant comfortable past. This worldwide trend is particularly pertinent in South Africa where retrenchments are rife. More than one-million jobs have been lost over the past decade according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). But managers still […]

analysis Pallo Jordan Hegel once wrote that a political party becomes real only when it becomes divided. This dialectical statement will strike some as odd, but its profundity lies precisely in its paradoxical nature. Provided that it is not brain dead, as a political movement grows, its inner contradictions inevitably begin to unfold. But as […]

Hoping for the prevalence of principle in politics is a bit like expecting the lion to lie down with the lamb: it’s a lovely idea, but lousy as a prediction. We on this newspaper, however, persist in the naive hope that principle will prevail; and we have not hesitated to make of it a demand. […]

BOOK REVIEW Peter Robinson JONTYINPICTURES(with text by Andy Capostagno) Viking This is, as the title suggests, Jonty Rhodes in pictures. Jonty with his shirt on, Jonty with his shirt off, Jonty batting, Jonty fielding and, a rare one this, Jonty fielding. In essence it’s a book for members of the Jonty Rhodes Fan Club (those […]

spirit level Cedric Mayson The telephone exchange in Heaven has been suffering from overload. Both United States President George W Bush and Osama bin Laden have been using their hot line to God on an hourly basis. Israelis and Palestinians both report direct contact on high. Christians and Muslims in Nigeria are fighting for fibre-optic […]