A post template

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

Bin Laden in tape prepares 9/11 attackers

Al-Qaeda marked the fifth anniversary of September 11 by posting video footage of Osama bin Laden exhorting the attackers to be patient in their preparations and to steel themselves for ”martyrdom”. In the edited footage, the picture of the blazing twin towers and the Pentagon building hit on the same day were used as a background.

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

Who cares if Pluto isn’t a planet?

We are naturally baffled by the downgrading of Pluto from ninth planet to non-planet. Who decides these things? Why should they make the news anyhow? Who cares? Who stares up into space and sees anything more than the moon and the distant stars? Who has ever seen Pluto with the naked eye?

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

The slow sound of her feet

A story goes that a man with a stutter was lost, so he stopped a passer-by to ask for directions: "Ex-ex-c-c-c-use m-m-m-m-m-me, c-c-can you t-t-t-t-tell me the way to the st-st-st-st-st-stuttering sch-sch-sch-school?" he struggled. The passer-by replied, coldly, "What do you want to go there for, you can already do it!"

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

Differentiation for education

Last year, the Times Higher Education Supplement produced a comparative report on the world’s top 200 universities. Not a single African university featured on the list. Only four African universities featured in the academy ranking of the Top 500 World Universities for 2005.

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

Sudanese peace on rocky ground

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warned this week that the Sudanese government will be responsible if its refusal to accept the proposed deployment of a UN peacekeeping force leads to a worsening of the humanitarian situation in Darfur. ”The government will have to assume responsibility for [providing security],” Annan said this week in Egypt.

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

Handled with care

Watching Lara Foot Newtown’s play, Tshepang: The Third Testament, I was concerned about whether a play could successfully deal with a topic such as baby rape. I wondered how it could function effectively without toppling into sensationalism or, worse, sentimentality. Foot Newton’s play does neither, and instead provides a very thoughtful, sensitive portrayal of this difficult topic, writes Erica Emdon.

No image available
/ 11 September 2006

Kenyan Maasai cattle forge 9/11 bond with US

In a field tucked away in a remote corner of south-west Kenya, perhaps the most unusual and poignant September 11 condolence gift to the United States grazes contentedly on long grass. Here in the heart of Maasailand, a small herd of cows ruminates, unaware they have forged a powerful symbolic bond between an isolated tribal community and the world’s last superpower.