The tiny town of Kuboes can be found at the end of a dirt road that stretches from Alexander Bay, at the mouth of the Orange river, past endless mine dumps and fenced-off diamond fields to the foot of the mountains of the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape.
This summer’s localised war between Israel and Hezbollah is being played out within a larger context of international relations all pointing in the direction of a military confrontation between the United States, Israel and perhaps some other allies on the one side, and Iran on the other side, possibly within the next two years, writes Amir Mizroch, news editor of the <i>Jerusalem Post</i>.
Over the past 12 years we have, as a nation, made quantitative and qualitative advances towards a truly democratic and non-patriarchal society. South African women constitute 41% of the Cabinet, 50% of the Presidency, 33% of the National Assembly (women also serve as the speaker and deputy speaker of that body) and 44% of premiers.
Any excuse for a jol and a South African will be there. Women’s Day is following suit. There were fashion shows, concerts, club nights with female DJs, you name it. Soon we will have kitsch cards, balloons and discounts for restaurant chains. That’s fine — it means the day is being institutionalised. But what we should not forget is that the day is one on which to mark progress on the woman’s road to equality and freedom.
"IBM Corporation today announced its smallest, lowest-priced computer system — the IBM Personal Computer," ran the press release 25 years ago. "Designed for business, school and home, the easy-to-use system sells for as little as $1 565. It offers many advanced features and, with optional software, may use hundreds of popular application programs."
Timbuktu manuscripts — which include texts on astromomy and law — have been passed down through the centuries and generations as a form of inheritance. The preservation of Timbuktu’s ‘intellectual treasures’ offers vital clues to the history of paper trading in Africa, writes Riason Naidoo.
Bono may be celebrated for browbeating world leaders into funding debt relief for developing countries, but his Irish rock band is facing criticism for switching its financial affairs overseas to avoid paying higher taxes. Irish politicians have expressed surprise at U2’s decision to move part of its multimillion-dollar operation from Ireland to Amsterdam.
Artists were swift to explore the horror of 9/11. But narratives likely to endure are only now emerging, argues Jonathan Freedland. And while today’s artists need to tell us about our world, they often need to do it in camouflage.
At an internet café in Senegal’s capital Dakar, a Senegalese woman skims through men’s online profiles, zeroes in on a thirtysomething Canadian and says hello. A few computers down, a young man browses through photos of foreign women. They’re looking for friends, conversations and possible romance just like internet chat users anywhere else.
There was little in the way of visible fanfare to mark the fifth anniversary of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in July. Depending on where you stand, it could be five years of slow, laborious, but promising progress; or five years of a predictable diminishing of another continental project started with much hope and celebration.