A post template

No image available
/ 30 November 2007

Intimidation and bribery as Putin prepares for victory

The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia’s parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote, the <i>Guardian</i> has reported. Local administration officials have called in thousands of staff on their day off in an attempt to engineer a massive and inflated victory for President Vladimir Putin.

No image available
/ 30 November 2007

Which old cocks will crow?

This time last year Muhsin Ertugral was calm and affable. He was clocking success after success with Ajax Cape Town, whose players he called his chickens — mostly because of their youth. It was around this time that he was preparing for the Telkom Cup final, the first of two finals to which he led his chickens last season.

No image available
/ 30 November 2007

Rice to visit Ethiopia in rare Africa trip

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Ethiopia next week for meetings on the conflicts in the volatile African Great Lakes region and Sudan and Somalia, said the State Department on Thursday. Rice, a rare visitor to the African continent, will make her third trip to sub-Saharan Africa since becoming Secretary of State in 2005.

No image available
/ 30 November 2007

Power failures strike troubled Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s finance minister proposed cutting taxes for the growing number of poor, increasing taxes on some manufacturers and cracking down on the black market as cures for his nation’s economic crisis. Samuel Mumbengegwi’s budget speech on Thursday was televised — but unavailable to many because of power failures.

No image available
/ 30 November 2007

Mbeki to receive peer report next week

President Thabo Mbeki will receive an African Union report into the country’s governance standards on Wednesday next week, the Ministry of Public Service and Administration said on Friday. Mbeki had to postpone a handover ceremony at his office on Thursday because of other urgent government matters.