Barack Obama bids on Tuesday to knock Hillary Clinton out of the White House race after a mud-slinging campaign that Democratic grandees fear is helping nobody but Republican heir John McCain. But heading into crunch battles in Ohio and Texas, the former first lady is full of fire and has been eviscerating her charismatic rival’s qualifications.
Reviving Zimbabwe’s moribund economy would require inflation-battered citizens to swallow the bitter pill of reduced state spending and higher interest rates to attract foreign cash, analysts say. The ousting of veteran President Robert Mugabe is essential to pave the way for reforms to put the country back on track, they believe.
Venezuela and Colombia were locked in a tense stand-off on Monday, with explosive accusations levelled against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez a day after he ordered tanks and troops to the border. There was no sign of imminent conflict but the war of words escalated when Colombia accused Chávez of bankrolling Marxist rebels.
I’ve become paranoid about posting thoughts to <i>Thought Leader</i>, the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i>’s blogging platform for the country’s intelligentsia. As I write this, the website’s resident thinkers are discussing the meaning of life. So you’ll understand why I’m hesitating over leading some particular thoughts.
In some ways, life has changed little for Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf since the election two weeks ago. The retired general still trots out for afternoon tennis, aides say, and enjoys a game of bridge a few times a week. In the evenings he pulls on a cigar and, although he can’t admit it, nurses a glass of whisky.
"The decision in this year’s budget to continue to run a budget surplus over the next three years appears to fly in the face of the government’s constitutional obligation to use ‘its available resources’ to realise these rights progressively," writes Kenneth Creamer.
Education Minister Naledi Pandor is setting up a new unit in her department to run its R6,1-billion Kha ri gude — Masifunde (Let Us Learn) literacy project. Unisa’s director of the Adult Basic Education and Training Institute, Veronica McKay, is on a shortlist to head it, the Mail & Guardian has learned.
For many refugees streaming into South Africa, especially from Zimbabwe, it is a matter of trading a life of poverty and famine for one of violent crime, unemployment and bureaucratic obstacles. Most of the refugees arriving here try to escape the economic meltdown in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
The government’s failure to extend the child-support grant to all vulnerable children under the age of 18 will leave about two million children without social support for the foreseeable future. Last month’s budget, which capped the age for children on the grant at 15 from January next year, was severely criticised by civil society.
The eviction of about 2 000 homeless backyarders in Delft has divided the community and raised allegations of dirty tactics against police. With 14 months before voting, the issue sparked the first pre-election salvoes between the city — led by the Democratic Alliance — and the African National Congress’s Western Cape premier.