Barack Obama was showing signs of campaign fatigue. Sitting on a picnic bench in a park on Pagoda Street, Indianapolis, in discussion with a group of 30 supporters, he told a story about the ”modest” background of himself and his wife, Michelle. And 10 minutes later, seemingly having forgotten, he told them it all again.
Israel will be urged on Friday to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip to avert a humanitarian disaster as the Middle East ”quartet” meets to consider the state of the faltering peace process. Oxfam and five other United Kingdom aid agencies are calling for the quartet to end its ”complacency” by putting the ”highest diplomatic pressure” on Israel.
The United States on Thursday urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to "call off his dogs" who are allegedly attacking opposition supporters and to release the presidential election results. State Department deputy spokesperson Tom Casey questioned how credible the results of the March 29 election could be when they have yet to be released.
A photograph recently appeared in Johannesburg’s daily newspapers of overweight police officers working out in a communal gym. The cops were laughing, but it was a pitiful sight. The men and women in the picture, sweating and puffy, are the ones we depend on to save lives. They are the ones we trust to protect and to serve our communities, property and homes.
If you want to know how powerful Rupert Murdoch is, read the reviews of Bruce Dover’s book, <i>Rupert’s Adventures in China: How Murdoch Lost a Fortune and Found a Wife </i>(Mainstream Publishing). Well, go on, read them.
A claim by the senior United Nations official in charge of humanitarian relief that up to 300Â 000 people have died in Darfur, western Sudan, since fighting erupted there in 2003 has reignited controversy over whether mortality figures are being deliberately inflated, or understated, for political reasons.
Once hailed as a healthy alternative to trans-fats, as a green wonder-fuel and as a driver of South-East Asia’s economic prosperity, palm oil’s image has taken quite a beating recently. Now seen as a biofuel baddie — palm oil biodiesel generates 10 times more carbon dioxide than petrol.
The African Union decided this week to send a high-level delegation to assess the political situation in Zimbabwe following allegations of violence and intimidation resulting from the long-delayed electoral results. The move came as the situation in Zimbabwe was discussed during a United Nations Security Council meeting.
If one were asked to distinguish between the local section of an Exclusive Books magazine rack today and its equivalent 10 years ago, one might be hard-pressed to find any significant difference.
The biggest challenge facing the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) today is how best to redefine what the role a traditionally militant youth organisation is supposed to be in a democratic South Africa. An inability to recalibrate its vision to current realities has made it susceptible to being used as a vehicle for personal aggrandisement.