The first G7 gathering took place in 1975, the start of a history of broken pledges, verbose communiqués and intangible commitments by the rich world to do something about Africa. At the last British G8 in Birmingham in 1998, Tony Blair sounded hopeful. The final communiqué said: ”We are encouraged by the new spirit of hope and progress in Africa.”
President Robert Mugabe ignored warnings from senior security officials that his government had ”got it all wrong” in executing the controversial Operation Murambatsvina. The Mail & Guardian has learnt that the security organ had told Mugabe three weeks ago that the local Government Minister had overstepped by ”demolishing people’s houses rendering them homeless”.
The venues are kept secret to bamboozle the police, and the guests are told where to go by text message. But the latest underground movement sweeping Italy has nothing to do with drugs or dance music: it is fuelled by home-made sausages, mouth-watering risottos and freshly baked bread.
The big deal about the fact that a woman officiated at our Islamic wedding ceremony was that virtually no one thought it was a big deal. Apart from an impressed Jewish friend and a concerned Muslim cleric who asked whether there was a precedent for this.
Call me naïve, but I thought it was possible that 2005 could achieve even more than a historic breakthrough deal on debt relief and aid for Africa. The conjunction of this key political moment with a huge cultural festival, Africa 05 — television and radio programmes, seemed to hold the promise of achieving one of those lasting shifts in public understanding of Africa.
Vrot Snoek was loitering outside at the African National Congress national general council last week, waiting to see if he’s going to have to dump the ”100% Mbeki” T-shirts he’s been printing. That’s where he heard a nearby police walky-talky crackle, ”Car for Minister van Schalkwyk.” The fuzz holding the receiver looked nonplussed. ”Wie?” he asked.
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Four blasts tore through London’s transport system during the morning rush hour in a choreographed series of terrorist attacks. Police said at least 37 people were killed, 21 near King’s Cross station, and the ambulance service said it had treated around 350 people, with more than 40 of those in a serious condition.
As Britain reeled with shock following Thursday’s bomb attacks in London, campaigners feared that the Group of Eight’s (G8) lofty ambitions on Africa and Earth’s climate would be pushed aside amid the outpouring of grief. Campaigners fear that their causes now face being dispatched back to the wilderness.
Hurricane Dennis strengthened with winds of 168kph on Thursday and threatened to become a major storm as it uprooted trees and flooded homes in southern Haiti and swept away a car in Jamaica, readying for a direct strike. Forecasters said the storm could strike the United States anywhere from Florida to Louisiana on Sunday or Monday.