On Tuesday, Adriaan Basson, editor in chief of News 24, expressed "renewed gratitude that in South Africa the ‘rights of journalists, authors and artists to write, say and sing what they like’ is an established right in 'our maturing democracy'." Basson is correct, too, that we should "never ever take our open democratic spaces and [...]
Last week in London, I had the opportunity to view the extraordinary Vincent van Gogh exhibition "Poets and Lovers" at the National Gallery. The Dutch master's magnificence, from showstoppers such as "Starry Night over the Rhône" and "Sunflowers", were on dazzling display alongside less familiar works - all testament to his creative and troubled genius. [...]
Enver Hoxha was the remorseless Communist dictator who held the Balkan country of Albania in his pitiless grip for just over 40 years from 1944 until his death in 1985. Once, uncharacteristically, in his New Year message for 1967, he did offer his long-suffering country a burst of candour when he advised: This year will [...]
