Martyn Halsall in Warsaw YOU are unlikely to be in Warsaw for more than an hour before hearing some anti- Russian anecdote or learning that the former Communist Party headquarters is now the central bank. But Polish self- confidence is not always reflected at international level. Reports to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development […]

With the help of Dennis Rodman, the Chicago Bulls have just won another NBA title, but the wayward star might end up a loser BASKETBALL:Ian Whittell EVEN by his own extraordinary standards Dennis Rodman had an extraordinary week. The Chicago Bulls player, cross-dresser and cultural phenomenon, won his fourth NBA Championship, made two much publicised […]

Not a single country has benefited financially from the new deal on debt relief, writes Andrew Simms `HE that dies pays all debts,” wrote Shakespeare. For too many people in the world’s poorest countries, death will indeed be the only way out: one person is born every second into bad, unpayable debt. Yet it need […]

When push comes to shove it’s the forwards, especially the front row, that can lead the Springboks to victory over the Lions RUGBY:Steve Morris IT is not overstating the case to say that Martin Johnson’s British Lions have grown considerably in stature and the ability to handle the South African game since their arrival. Starting […]

FRIDAY, 8.30AM FORMER justice minister Adriaan Vlok has admitted to ordering the placing of “small explosive devices” outside two cinemas showing anti-apartheid movies, and to making false bomb threats to cinemas planning to show the Biko film Cry Freedom. Vlok is believed to be referring to a series of anti-censorship film festivals run by the […]

meet Moshoeshoe Stephen Gray TWO hundred years ago a pair of lowly lads was born in Scotland, that great producer of emigrants. One was the son of a humble joiner in the northernmost Highlands, the other of a mere shepherd in the Border area. Both were self-educated, ambitious enough to make something of themselves in […]

A new attitude to traditional muti could help save endangered species, writes Eddie Koch THE Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) gathering in Harare was dominated this week by fierce debate over the international ban on trade in ivory. But in a largely unheralded move, hundreds of Western conservationists adopted a new approach to […]

AT the heart of the debate around Cape Town’s Olympic bid lies a question of ownership. Faced by accusations of nepotism and racism this week, bid company chief executive Chris Ball responded that the spirit of volunteerism was integral to the Olympic movement. When pressed for details as to the costs of the bid process, […]

Yoweri Museveni has made great strides in dismantling the vestiges of colonial rule in Uganda, but Mahmood Mamdani questions the long-term stability of outlawing political opposition WHEN Yoweri Katuga Museveni came to power in 1986 at the head of the National Resistance Army (NRA), he pledged ”Fundamental Change” to the people of Uganda. Ten years […]

Peta Thornycroft WAR matriel from South Africa is being supplied to Angola’s Unita movement, according to reports by the Institute for Security Studies. One of the institute’s senior researchers, Jakkie Potgieter, says he has seen military supplies being off- loaded and stored in northern Mozambique for shipment to Unita forces along Angola’s border with the […]