Zimbabwe sat on a knife-edge on Tuesday as it awaited a new leader amid mounting pressure to swiftly release full results of an election already claimed by the opposition. For a second night running, security was stepped up in and around the capital, Harare, in readiness to quell any post-electoral unrest.
Choosing ”fair trade” or ”organic” comes at a hefty price, far out of the reach of the masses consuming ”made in China”. If you want to enjoy Euro-certified ”Fair Trade” products in South Africa, you cannot afford to think about the routes travelled by those products to reach you.
In the latest blow to South Africans already reeling from scheduled load-shedding, entire cities will now be plunged into darkness as Eskom institutes even more extreme power cuts. The shock development, which will be known as sector-sharing, will see the country divided into four vertical zones, each spanning many thousands of square kilometres.
Despite being legalised in South Africa more than 10 years ago, abortion–or termination as I would prefer to call it — is still stigmatised. Women do not really have a choice and it is very difficult to get any support or information on this issue. An <i>M&G</i> reader responds to our story on illegal abortions.
Two weeks ago, many Western commentators scrambling to interpret the protests in Lhasa found that they did not need to work especially hard. Surely the Tibetans are the latest of many brave peoples to rebel against communist totalitarianism? The rhetorical templates of the Cold War are still close at hand, shaping Western discussions of Islam or Asia.
The change in leadership of the ANC, the assault on the Scorpions and the energy crisis are some of the issues that, deservedly, are attracting significant attention at the start of 2008. However, there is one issue that should be attracting similar attention, yet remains a topic debated in only limited circles.
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Zimbabwe’s opposition claimed a clear lead over President Robert Mugabe and his party as pressure mounted on Monday evening for the swift announcement of full results from presidential and parliamentary polls. Earlier on Monday, the United Kingdom-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting said that Mugabe was to announce victory.
The person allegedly responsible for sending a letter suspected to be laced with poison to the office of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) acting head Mokotedi Mpshe has been identified. NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Monday that the authority’s security and risk unit had made ”significant headway” relating to the letter.
Four boys died after they were rescued from initiation schools in the Eastern Cape, the provincial health department said on Monday. Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said that in a joint ongoing operation, which started on Friday, 87 boys were rescued from illegal initiation schools.