Barry Moody

Beyond the angst about whether SA will pull off a successful World Cup is a more profound question -- can the competition bring the races closer?

Kenya's huge and squalid slums don't have much of anything, except mountains of trash that fill rivers and muddy streets, breeding disease.

The US military's new Africa command went into action on Wednesday, but hostility has forced it to shelve plans to be based on the continent.

SA on Friday celebrated the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, a symbol of reconciliation in a nation torn by doubt and nostalgia for his leadership.

Nelson Mandela celebrates his 90th birthday on Friday as a widely revered statesman, but SA faces a host of problems that challenge his dream.

The AU crossed a watershed by handing an unprecedented rebuff to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, but the move could remain largely symbolic.

There is a growing danger of a coup by military hardliners in Zimbabwe to prevent opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai from toppling President Robert Mugabe, a leading think tank said on Wednesday. The International Crisis Group called for African mediation leading to a national unity government led by Tsvangirai as the best way to resolve the crisis.

United States President George Bush on Sunday met Tanzania's leader to discuss Africa's political crises before signing a nearly -million grant to help stimulate economic growth. On the second stop of a five-nation trip where he has received a warm welcome, Bush will spend the day discussing projects to fight HIV/Aids and malaria.

Up to 1 000 people may have died in more than a week of riots and post-election violence in Kenya, opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Monday. The head of the African Union, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, is due to land in Nairobi on Tuesday. Odinga said Kufuor could begin chairing talks on Wednesday.

Crops rot in the fields, farms and schools are abandoned, the black hulks of burned houses dot the landscape. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and many women raped. On a dirt road climbing up through green countryside, a heavily armed patrol of police troops stares nervously into the thick bush, wary of a militia ambush.

The 53-nation Commonwealth suspended Pakistan's membership on Thursday, after President Pervez Musharraf failed to meet a deadline to lift emergency rule and resign as army chief. The Commonwealth had given Musharraf until Thursday to lift the state of emergency he imposed on November 3.

Once known as East Africa's green ''City in the Sun'', Nairobi is so choked with traffic that Kenya's architects suggest moving to a new capital and angry business leaders say the booming economy is under threat. A combination of bad drivers, ramshackle vehicles, overloaded trucks, potholed roads and corrupt traffic police make one of Africa's biggest cities resemble the dodgems on a good day.