Harry Joyce in Oslo and Ian Black in London The United States has spurned intense pressure to back a worldwide ban on anti- personnel landmines, saying its security would be compromised if it signed a treaty hailed as a victory for humanity and a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. The treaty, negotiated in the […]

Maria McCloy Okay, okay. we all know The Shell Road to Fame or The Hell Road To Shame, as some call it is a clever marketing thing from Shell, but the crowd who got in for free to the Sun City Superbowl last saturday had a damn good time. It was packed, and there was […]

Wally Mbhele The number of African National Congress branches in Gauteng has risen dramatically from 400 to about 500 in recent weeks, a development interpreted by some members as a bid to load the dice against their favourite contender for the position of a new provincial chair, advocate Mathole Motshekga. This startling growth came as […]

Chris McGreal in Nairobi It was all so familiar to more sceptical Kenyans. Under pressure from a disgruntled electorate at home and suspicious governments abroad, President Daniel arap Moi appeared to give away the store by agreeing to sweeping reforms before this years general election. The government talked of a great moment in Kenyas history. […]

One of the longest-standing puzzles of the universe could soon be solved, writes Marcus Chown In the 1960s, American spy satellites stumbled across something that no Pentagon strategist had ever predicted: a mysterious signal coming from the depths of space. The satellites, in orbit to catch the Russians if they violated the test-ban treaty by […]

FRIDAY, 12.00NOON: GAUTENG Lions and Gauteng Falcons meet in a Bankfin Currie Cup match at Ellis Park Stadium on Saturday. Many believe the match will be like a reunion of Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) as both teams have a number of RAU players in their team lists. There are 11 RAU players in the Lions’ […]

Ugandan moral watchdogs are outraged by local girlie magazines but the editors contend they put spice into life, writes Angella Johnson Ugandan publishers have discovered the maxim sex sells. I did it with an old man and liked it … No to condoms! Women want it live … Why virgins are a nightmare, are just […]

Swapna Prabhakaran meets Jean Franois Duroure, choreographer with a mission A Frenchman walks into a hostel in Jeppe, Johannesburg, and asks the Zulu workers there to show him how they dance. It sounds like the beginning of a Van der Merwe joke but Jean Franois Duroure, a dancer- choreographer with a mission, did this one […]

Holidays in hell: Profits count more than life and limb for some tour operators Ellen Bartlett World Leisure Holidays, the package tour division of Sun International, describes Les Comores as ?magical, mystical … the last of the unspoilt islands?. No doubt they are, or would be, were it not for the minor matter of simmering […]

Controversy surrounds the future of governing Johannesburg. Muff Andersson presents the options open to the city and its sub-structures This weekend there will be a private referendum in the white suburbs to determine whether residents of Johannesburg believe the city should remain governed by four separate sub-structures or be merged into one giant megacity. Regardless […]