The controversial Syrian arms deal seems to have been leaked in an attempt to scupper it, reports Stefaans Brmmer THE government’s handling of the partially approved R3-billion arms deal with Syria has exposed deep divisions in official thinking on the crucial foreign policy area of arms control – and the leak of Cabinet minutes appeared […]

Jay Mathews Social scientists have spent decades trying to discover why some corporate chief executive officers (CEOs) make more money than others. Three university researchers say they now have a surprising answer: snob appeal. Their complex analysis of the records of 61 Fortune 500 companies, controlling the data for company size, CEO tenure and education […]

The svelte HAZEL FRIEDMAN goes out and gorges herself on Feedback Andrew Buckland’s mother would be forgiven for thinking that maybe, just maybe, her multi-talented son harbours repressed feelings of hostility towards her. I mean, carving up your mother’s corpse and turning her anatomical parts – breasts, boep, bum ‘n’ all – into gastronomical delights […]

James Lamont tells Jacquie Golding-Duffy that fellow editors cannot afford not to take him seriously, despite his age He is young and overly cautious, say some. Others argue that his track record is unimpressive and does not qualify him to sit at the helm of Business Report. But 28- year-old James Lamont, the newly appointed […]

Zimbabwe Iden Wetherell in Harare MIRED in intrigue, corruption and controversy, the University of Zimbabwe is rudderless as the hunt for a new vice- chancellor yields few candidates of note willing to take up what has become a troubled command. The last incumbent, Professor Gordon Chavunduka, quit in April 1996 after the problems at the […]

What do falling sperm counts mean for human survival? Robin McKie and Euan Ferguson report from London IF there’s a subject guaranteed to raise a puerile snicker, then sperm – and its fate – have been sure-fire winners down the years. Yet sperm is the stuff upon which our survival depends. Recent confirmation that supplies […]

Evangelos Calamitsis, director of the African Department, replies to last week’s criticism of the IMF’s policies in Mozambique MOZAMBIQUE deserves better treatment from those who, like Joseph Hanlon, would claim to be its friends. His portrayal of a country whose desperate economic condition threatens to reawaken unrest (IMF pulls plug on Mozambique, Mail & Guardian, […]

Paul Brown in London SHELL, which has been wrestling with a multi-million pound problem of what to do with its giant Brent Spar oil storage platform since Greenpeace stopped it being dumped in the sea in 1995, this week awarded six companies contracts worth more than $1,5-million to develop proposals for its disposal. Two groups […]

Amid the changes in the judiciary, an old- style attitude still exists among some judges. Three months as an acting judge was a learning experience for academic and commentator Dennis Davis THE demand for the transformation of the South African judiciary has become almost as plastic a concept as that of the rainbow nation. That […]

The making of Evita turned a country upside down. Is it any wonder Madonna and Alan Parker tried to stop CLAUDIA NYE exposing their shenanigans? HOME sweet home. I was back in Argentina to make a documentary about Alan Parker’s Evita. It was a dream come true. Eva Peron was the most important woman in […]