It has soft lights, gleaming red and blue surfaces and a soothing video projection on the wall showing swirling underwater bubbles. Welcome not to an art hotel, but to Europe’s trendiest public toilet. The super-loo, which opened in Berlin on May 4, is the last word in chic public architecture.
World stock markets finally expunged the memories of one of the worst bear markets in history recently when they surpassed the levels reached ahead of the collapse of the dotcom bubble in 2000. The most widely used yardstick of equity performance around the globe, showed that a recovery in developed economies coupled with boom conditions in emerging markets has created a new record for shares.
”The Native Club contributions by Sandile Memela and Ebrahim Harvey were thought-provoking. I am not an intellectual; I am just an ordinary black citizen with questions to ask and a keen interest in the realm of ideas. I agree with Memela that we do not need intellectuals whose sole obsession is to criticise the government at every turn,” writes Gladwell Monageng.
Tourists and young couples ambling through the historic centre of Krakow on a warm spring afternoon were stopped in their tracks by a sight reminiscent of the era of martial law. As drinks flowed in the open-air cafes of Poland’s ancient royal capital, a phalanx of armed police in full riot gear inched its way slowly through the medieval city.
Since opening an embassy in Khartoum in January 2004, South Africa’s involvement in Sudan has grown more visible. President Thabo Mbeki has a key role in the African Union-led Sudan peace process and Pretoria currently chairs the AU’s post-conflict reconstruction committee on Southern Sudan.
The ”Chávez effect”, which started when Hugo Chávez was elected as Venezuelan president in 1998, has made waves across the continent, with the ”pink tide” now lapping as far as Mexico to the north and Brazil to the south. Chávez has been a key player in establishing a network of leftist politicians in the region who can give each other moral and economic support.
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) is so cash-strapped that it might have to cancel another session scheduled for later this year, says financial affairs committee chairperson Wycliff Oparanya, who slammed countries for not paying their contributions to the African Union.
Helen Zille (”The ANC is trying to destroy us,” April 28) wants to create the impression that the Cape Town administration is running smoothly, that there are no hindrances to service delivery and that, if there are problems, the African National Congress is to blame.
Months of scorching drought have left 40 000 children in the Horn of Africa at imminent risk of dying of hunger, the United Nations warned on Monday. Torrential rains last month only made the situation worse, killing many of the cattle that had survived the previous six months of drought and bringing malaria and other disease, the United Nations Children’s Fund said.
The acquittal of Jacob Zuma rings a million bells for the future of the country, including as we deepen our campaign against women and child abuse, and as we confront an alarming rate of HIV infection, particularly among the youth. The various pointers that emerged from Zuma’s rape trial need not be avoided or swept under the carpet.