This past weekend saw a new military operation underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Reports from the central African country say about 800 United Nations troops have been deployed in the north-eastern Ituri region to disarm local militias held responsible for the death of nine peacekeepers last month. The militias have also attacked local Congolese, prompting 70Â 000 to flee their homes.
The Western Cape wants to raise R750-million a year through levies on fuel, hotel beds and construction. "They’re not taxes. Each will have to meet national government approval, whether it is inflationary and investor-friendly. We don’t want to create a hostile environment." The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> questioned Premier Ebrahim Rasool on the economic rationale.
Botswana has been showered with praise and been repeatedly dubbed the "African miracle". We, in contrast, suggest that the country’s democracy is elitist, power is centralised in the Presidency and there is growing autocracy in Botswana. The imminent handover of power by the current President, Festus Mogae, to the Vice-President, Ian Khama, is increasingly raising concern within Botswana itself.
Urban poverty has a familiar face — the image of the overcrowded and garbage-strewn slum. It may surprise many to hear, then, that three quarters of the world’s poorest people — about 900-million persons — live in rural areas. ”Not simply poverty, but extreme poverty is the normal experience of the majority of the rural population,” says the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will demand a radical shake-up of the West’s approach to the world’s poorest continent when his year-long Africa Commission calls for a doubling of aid, the dismantling of trade barriers, the writing off of debts and immediate action to stamp out corruption. The launch of the report on Friday will be used to urge a new partnership between developed and developing countries.
The Bush administration ran into its first roadblock in its plans to sharply reduce the prison population at Guantánamo Bay at the weekend, when a United States judge forbade the transfer of 13 inmates to Yemen for fear they would be tortured. ”We’re relieved,” Marc Falkoff, a lawyer for the Yemenis, told The New York Times.
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The 35 000 riders who took on the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay cycle tour on Sunday were battered by near gale force winds and by early evening 158 riders had been injured in falls and one contestant had been flown to hospital after suffering a heart attack.
A haul of six wickets by Monde Zondeki saw South Africa to victory on the third day of the second Test match against Zimbabwe on Sunday. South Africa’s victory by an innings and 62 runs gave South Africa a two-nil series win. Although they were badly beaten, Zimbabwe showed a lot more resistance in the second Test, and can take heart from the performance of some of their players.
Namibia’s founding President Sam Nujoma will be studying geology, setting up his own charity foundation and enjoying the lifestyle afforded to a serving head of state when he retires in a week’s time. The white-bearded and bespectacled veteran leader will retain the powerful post of president of the ruling South West African Peoples’ Organisation (Swapo) until 2007.