When the West African state of Liberia was torn apart by 14 years of civil war, the victims of the brutal insurgency included mostly women and children who were subject to rape and sexual violence. ”Not only are the terrible consequences of this still felt by many Liberian women today, but violence against women and rape continue unchecked,” says a new study on Liberia by ActionAid
Despite the sunny summer’s day, 16-year-old Moipone Modise (not her real name) wears her red fleece jacket zipped up as she waits in the queue for antenatal care patients at Alexandra’s 8th Avenue clinic. She is five months pregnant. Each Tuesday and Thursday, the clinic offers the full range of antenatal services to expectant mothers from the township.
A Limpopo medical doctor has documented a string of physical abnormalities — including breasts on a five-year-old girl — that he believes are directly linked to the unregulated use of agricultural chemicals. Dr Johan Minnaar (44) has produced evidence of serious illnesses and disorders among his patients in Groblersdal.
"I don’t drive a Toyota. I’ve actually never owned a car. I can’t comment about its dominance of the world market. I do not read <i>Car</i> magazine, unless it is the only thing in the toilet at the time. So I was surprised to find myself reading a rather long piece about Toyota’s corporate culture recently in the <i>New York Times</i> magazine," writes Binyavanga Wainaina.
The Bush administration is signalling yet another war, issuing dark warnings of an Iranian nuclear threat and crying foul over the alleged presence of Iranian weaponry in Iraq. Washington has backed this alarmist diplomacy by transferring the USS Enterprise, USS Stennis and USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier groups to the Persian Gulf region.
The African National Congress (ANC)-led government has failed the nation by not providing free education in all public schools, the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) said on Wednesday. ”Cosas demands that all private schools be nationalised and further demands the provision of free education in all public schools,” Cosas president Kenny Motshegoa said in a statement.
A shortage of raw materials and procurement issues may delay the construction of stadiums for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, a government official said on Wednesday. Malcolm Simpson, deputy director general at the Treasury’s World Cup unit, said a shortage of skills, a lack of materials and rising costs could jeopardise the increasingly tight schedule.
Victims in the Republic of South Africa (Virsa) will lead a march on Saturday to government offices around the country to demand a crime-free and corruption-free country. ”We are giving ordinary people an opportunity to voice out their opinions about the government’s negative attitude towards crime,” Virsa spokesperson Steph Hartung said on Wednesday.
Three suspected Jordanian Islamists appeared in court on Wednesday accused of plotting to assassinate United States President George Bush when he visited the country last year. Nidal Momani, Sattam Zawahra and Tharwat Ali Draz were arrested on November 28, a day before Bush visited Jordan, and later indicted on charges of ”conspiracy to carry out terrorist plots”.
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South Africa’s cricket team was ”safe and calm” after a gas blast in their hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Wednesday, Cricket South Africa spokesperson Gordon Templeton said. ”Shortly after the blast, which occurred on the eighth floor of the hotel at about 8am [local time], all guests were evacuated,” Templeton said in a statement.