Real stars take drugs, lose their looks and throw tantrums. But ‘Digital Hollywood’ can now make its own stars, writes Pat Kane SCI-FI writer William Gibson, the inventor of the term “cyberspace”, recently brought out a new novel about a digital woman – a computer-generated image – who gains an actual consciousness and wants to […]

Mail & Guardian Reporter THE high drama of former superspy Craig Williamson’s appearance in the Pretoria Supreme Court this week was deflated by a pitiful divorce case. Just before Williamson’s case came up before Deputy Judge President Piet van der Walt, a man sporting a wavy hairstyle uncannily similar to that of former Civil Co-operation […]

Letters must be received by Tuesday noon.The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity and space. ENDS

As SAA limbers up for an equity partner there are increasing signs that morale and standards are slipping. Mungo Soggot and Max Gebhardt report ZUKILE Nomvete grudgingly tells the story of how he was saved by rival Sun Air shortly after he assumed his Transnet post of executive director in charge of South African Airlines […]

Hazel Friedman CONFUSION reigns at the Pact ballet and dance companies as members and mana= gem ent come to terms with their imminent transition from a government-supporte= d d ance company to what they hope to be an independent company – due to the dr= ast ic reduction in state funding. This week, for example, […]

An NGO which has been involved in drafting a code of ethics for the sector is in the spotlight for other reasons, reports Rehana Rossouw A PRIME mover behind the creation of a code of ethics for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is involved in a bitter dispute with a former employee, which has dragged his organisation […]

Claudia Braude ‘MANAGING the package” is how truth commissioner Hugh Lewin describes selecting 12 statements from 150 submitted for public hearings in one community. “Which is the story to choose, the story we say you should hear?” he asks. He’s upfront about the process, difficulties and discomfort involved in narrating the role of the Truth […]

Shirley Kossick THE GIANT’S HOUSE by Elizabeth McCracken (Jonathan Cape, R69,95) FALL ON YOUR KNEES by Ann-Marie MacDonald=20 (Jonathan Cape, R84,95) A RATIONAL MAN by Teresa Benison=20 (Vintage, R62) ELIZABETH McCRACKEN was chosen as one of Granta magazine’s 20 best young Am= eri can writers on the strength of her short story collection, Here’s Your […]

New York has legalised ‘extreme fighting’, an anything-goes mix of martial = art s. Ian Katz reports=20 ON March 26, Kenny Monday and John Lewis will step into a ring in an as yet= un disclosed Manhattan arena and do their level best to beat the living daylig= hts out of one another. They will […]

Madeleine Wackernagel AFTER the sharp deterioration in October/November, the business confidence ind ex for December/January showed a recovery of one percentage point. The reason, says the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob), which compiles the index, is partly a turnaround in sentiment, thanks to the stronger rand, the prospect of a cut in interest rates, […]