Rory Johnston Operators of Earth satellites will be holding their breath on November 17 as Earth sails into the worst meteor storm for 33 years. Particles travelling at 240 000km/h will crash into virtually every satellite, and the damage could be slight or it could be enough to put satellites out of commission entirely. Every […]
Rupert Jones Banks and building societies in the United Kingdom are pouring money into ever-more sophisticated services, but are they focusing on tomorrow at the expense of today’s mundane issues, such as customer complaints and lunchtime queues? There have been a spate of personal computer (PC) and Internet banking initiatives. This week, Royal Bank of […]
Ed O’Loughlin Despite lurid reports to the contrary, the pursuit of the civil war in Sierra Leone has had little to do with British mercenaries, illegally imported Bulgarian weapons, Executive Outcomes, Foreign Office intrigue or the crew of HMS Cornwall. Whatever the British government may or may not have known about the activities of the […]
Paul Wilson FA Cup Final If Arsenal against Newcastle United has the ring of a real cup final about it, for all the traditional reasons, then it is also a final in which neutral viewers would traditionally have known which side to support. But if a week is a long time in politics, a couple […]
David White The vacancy appears to be the job of your dreams, the pay is right, the prospects are good. But competition for the best posts is the fiercest. So which qualities do employers look for? What can you do to convince them that you, and not the 300 other applicants, are the right person […]
The demise of Louis Luyt as president of the South African Rugby Football Union is only the first step towards rugby’s rehabilitation as a national sport. There are many administrators and followers of the sport who, while accepting Luyt’s departure as a necessary expedient to removing an obstacle to the upcoming international tours, resent the […]
Greg Bowes CD of the week The titles of the three Ninja Cuts compilations from Britain’s inspired weird-beat label Ninja Tune, are always extraordinarily tongue-twisting. Funkjazztical Tricknology, Flexistentialism, and now Ninja Cuts III: Funkungfusion (Ninja Cuts), the latest round-up of revolutionary sounds from their roster. Headed up by sonic sorcerers Coldcut, who were once responsible […]
Suzy Bell On show in Durban Totally disarming in tweety-bird yellow, casual cotton shirt teeming with tiny fish, a Zulu beaded choker resembling a Smartie box of colours, brass bangles, and a genteel, generous-hearted demeanor – that’s our poet/playwright/artist, Breyten Breytenbach. Being the Buddhist he is, if you swing the conversation to China, Tibet and […]
For a few weeks in May ’68 in Paris, students and workers united in a wave of strikes and demonstrations that seemed poised to overturn the old order. Peter Lennon was in the thick of things I don’t remember the precise incident that made it clear to me that this time, this particular turmoil was […]
A bold new album deal and a minor national controversy have made it quite a week for top local band Boom Shaka. Charl Blignaut reports The mutterings began more than a fortnight ago, at the afterparty of the 1998 FNB South African Music Awards (Samas). It was evident, before the first glass of wine had […]