No image available
/ 2 February 2008
The lights were on again in Cape Town by Saturday morning after most of the Mother City was plunged into darkness on Friday night. "Most parts of the city were without power from 9pm on Friday after a technical fault at a local substation feeding into the service," Eskom said.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
South Africa must face up to the fact that our schools are a national disaster. We desperately need short-term holding operations, immediate improvements and a long-term turnaround plan. In a stagnant society, devoid of hope, poor outcomes wouldn’t matter, writes Graeme Bloch.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
Jerome Kerviel, an introverted young city trader, lived on a tree-lined street in Neuilly-ÂÂsur-Seine, a wealthy Paris suburb. Its yuppies live by Nicolas Sarkozy’s mantra "work more to earn more". So when a handsome, well-dressed but solitary young banker rose at dawn every day for work and returned late at night to his one-bedroom flat, neighbours thought his dedication was to be encouraged.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
Like the elephant on its crest, there was a degree of dimorphism about the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) at its draft policy launch recently. Its past, especially the party’s role in the internecine violence of the 1980s and 1990s, was reshaped towards absolution during a narrative history kicked off by Generations actress Winnie Ntshaba.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
A quiet rebellion and near-total collapse of the chain of command has exposed Kenya’s police force as incapable of dealing with the growing national crisis in the country, amid growing fears that it has also been infiltrated by the outlawed pro- government Mungiki sect.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
Nigeria is famous as a country with abundant oil, but no fuel. Now add South Africa as a country rich in coal, but poor in power. So bad has the energy crisis become that Eskom has been running with a quarter of its capacity out of service. Effectively, one of every four power plants is standing idle.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
The United States occupying army in Iraq (euphemistically called the Multi-National Force-Iraq) carries out extensive studies of popular attitudes. Its December 2007 report of a study of focus groups was uncharacteristically upbeat. The report concluded that the survey ”provides very strong evidence” to refute the common view that ”national reconciliation is neither anticipated nor possible”.
Click on image for full-size view.
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
A doctor who spoke out about medical conditions at Pollsmoor Prison while working there has been redeployed to another clinic, the South African Broadcasting Corporation said on Friday. Paul Theron withdrew his court application to return to the correctional facility on Friday.
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
Gabon Foreign Minister Jean Ping was elected on Friday as the African Union’s top diplomat, replacing Mali’s Alpha Oumar Konare as the head of the AU Commission. ”I can’t say too much at the moment, but of course I am very happy,” Ping told a crowd of diplomats, journalists and well-wishers after winning the vote at an AU summit in Ethiopia.