HOW do fireworks work? And will they one day invent a noiseless firework that is “animal- friendly”? – Lee Scholtz, Westdene THE fireworks that dazzle us today have their origins in 12th-century China, where the explosive mixture of charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate that gives fireworks their “oomph” – known as “black powder”, because of […]

case Safety and Security Minister Mufamadi has been landed in another potentially embarrassing legal situation, reports Mungo Soggot T HE lawyer who defended Eastern Cape killer policeman Gideon Niewoudt has been hired by Sydney Mufamadi’s Safety and Security Department to fight a civil claim lodged by the three widows of Niewoudt’s victims. The widows, Doreen […]

An opportunity to show high-level commitment to Aids has been missed, say Mary Crew and James McIntyre TWO rumours circulated in the week preceding World Aids Day. The first was that President Mandela and Deputy President Mbeki would be joining Minister Zuma at the National Health World Aids Day rally in Bloemfontein. It was believed […]

Fiercely independent Ethiopian film-maker Haile Gerima spoke to ANDREW WORSDALE about the travails of making films the African way VISIONARY film-maker Haile Gerima is a handsome, rotund man with a silver, close- shaved beard, a baseball cap hiding hair- loss and features held in place by some pretty hip spectacles. The Ethiopian-born and Washington-based film-maker’s […]

Graham Hopwood in Windhoek NAMIBIA has defended plans to pump 20- million cubic metres of water each year from the Okavango River, despite protests from environmentalists and tourism operators in Botswana’s Okavango swamps, which are annually filled by the river. Richard Fry, Namibia’s deputy permanent secretary of water affairs, said this week that the severity […]

created Julian Drew finds out about benefits the Bid company believes the Olympics will bring WHEN Cape Town began developing a philosophy to underpin its bid for the 2004 Olympic Games it realised the Games would have to make a significant contribution towards redressing the imbalances of the apartheid era. “If it was simply about […]

test As Korea and Japan eye the World Cup, John Gittings in Seoul reports on a game of two halves IT SAYS “2002 World Cup Korea” in shop windows, over bank counters, and on the in- flight screens of Korean Air. The official title of the event, carefully negotiated with the international governing body for […]

Andy Duffy A CRACK squad of advisers led by the Ministry of Finance’s highly-paid consultant Charles Stride has gone into Transnet to help fill the R12-billion hole in the parastatal’s pension fund. The ministry said this week Deputy Finance Minister Gill Marcus had recruited Stride following the roasting she gave Transnet in Parliament six weeks […]

DANCE: Jann Parry in London THE studio where the choreographer Ashley Page is rehearsing seems to be full of teenagers, their lankily graceful limbs swathed in a kind of innocence. In fact, the dozen or so dancers are in their early 20s, junior members of the Royal Ballet’s corps de ballet. They look gorgeous, yet […]

China, recognised last week by President Mandela, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, says Guy Liberman PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela’s controversial choice of the People’s Republic of China over Taiwan may appear to be economically motivated – a triumph of realpolitik – but he has given his support to a regime akin to […]