Thebe Mabanga There was a time when television dramas used to be a source of fascination for millions of viewers. Whether your fare was dished from a neighbour’s set or a battery-operated set in your lounge with neighbours’ children congregating in front of the set many dramas were a decent combination of mesmerising acting and […]

THE Lagos State government has reneged on its promise to improve power supply in the southern Nigerian metropolis due to problems it faces in implementing its accord with US energy firm ENRON. Following an agreement signed between Lagos State government and ENRON in August last year, authorities had promised to provide more than 10 million […]

CHARLES MANGWIRO, Maputo | Friday AN international team of doctors have begun arriving in Mozambique to investigate the mysterious death of an estimated 70 prisoners in the northern province of Cabo Delgado earlier this week. Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi told a press conference in Maputo that police reports indicated as many as 70 prisoners appeared […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday THE Labour Department is trying to stem allegations of negligence after it emerged that an inspector had apparently been alerted to conditions at the factory in Lenasia where 11 workers burnt to death last Friday. Labour Department director-general Rams Ramashia has reacted “with alarm” over the allegations that an inspector […]

BENIN has sought Nigeria’s support in its bid to host the headquarters of a proposed west African gas pipeline project. Four west African countries – Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo – are participating in the project being implemented by west African regional grouping ECOWAS. – AFP

Zapiro distills the hopes and fears of the nation in his cartoons. Jane Rosenthal visited him in his studio The studio of Jonathan Shapiro, known to the nation as the cartoonist Zapiro, has the feel of a real workplace. It is dominated by an unpretentious “mid-century” architectural drawing table with pulley-operated parallel rule and custom-made […]

Cedric Mayson spirit level Faith comes in two versions. There is faith as a focus and faith as a force, faith that imparts knowledge and faith that imparts experience, faith that informs your thinking and faith that kicks you in the bum. Neither of them is limited to religion. Faith as a focus deals with […]

Tim Radford Life is what you make of it. Right now, what you make of it is money. You can isolate a length of DNA, describe it, make something inventive, propose a use, pay some money and claim it as yours at a patent office. Congratulations. You have joined the 21st-century gold rush. You have […]

Guy Clapperton A photographer who takes a picture retains the copyright unless it is signed over to someone else. But if the picture is held electronically, international copyright law becomes null and void. Sounds ludicrous? Not according to Sygma, the French picture library that was recently acquired by Bill Gates’s picture giant, Corbis. The company […]

Guy Clapperton A photographer who takes a picture retains the copyright unless it is signed over to someone else. But if the picture is held electronically, international copyright law becomes null and void. Sounds ludicrous? Not according to Sygma, the French picture library that was recently acquired by Bill Gates_s picture giant, Corbis. The company […]