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 […]

Confusion surrounds the sale of Transcell after Stella Sigcau stepped in to prevent the deal taking place, reports Max Gebhardt Privatisation has been dealt yet another blow following the intervention by the Minister of Public Enterprises, Stella Sigcau, in the proposed sale of Transnet’s loss-making cellular phone division to MTN. A ministry representative issued a […]

Apple is arming itself to fight future commercial wars. Jack Schofield reports from London IN 1991, Macintosh evangelist Guy Kawasaki wrote in his Macworld column: “Our greatest technical challenge is creating a computer that leapfrogs Macintosh just as Macintosh leapfrogged the IBM PC … In the next five to seven years Macintosh technology will be […]

If you want to stick your fingers up the nose of the biggest guy on the block, you must at least have a good reason for risking a bruising. Pious declarations about the sovereign right to sell weapons of destruction to whomsoever we choose, or solidarity with that noted democrat Hafez al-Assad, do not justify […]

Rebecca Smithers and Owen Bowcott THE ambitions of Princess Diana to become an ambassador for Britain suffered a severe setback during her visit to Angola this week after she was accused of straying into the political arena by failing to back the British government’s policy in her call for a worldwide ban on anti-personnel landmines. […]