"The way in for me was to ask questions like, when is the birth of conscience? Not just for a character in a novel, but also for the writer writing the novel." Andie Miller spoke to exiled Nigerian novelist Chris Abani.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is to forge links with left-wing social movements in a move to reverse its waning influence in the tripartite alliance and to revitalise South Africa’s left. At a recent conference, the federation adopted an unprecedented resolution to work with the country’s burgeoning social movements to rescue the "fragmentation and attrition" of the left.
Microsoft on Thursday announced a deal to buy a company run by the creator of IBM’s Lotus Notes, Ray Ozzie, at the same time hiring him to be one of the software firm’s most senior technical executives. Ozzie will join Microsoft in the role of chief technical officer and will report directly to chairperson and chief software architect Bill Gates.
A suicide bomb tore through a packed funeral ceremony at a Shia mosque in Mosul on Thursday, killing at least 46 people and wounding up to 100 others. The attack appeared to be the latest outrage by Sunni militants intent on fomenting sectarian strife and destabilising attempts to form an elected Iraqi government.
The Michael Jackson trial descended further into farce on Thursday as the judge ordered the singer’s arrest when he failed to appear at court. Told that he was at a nearby hospital ”with a serious back problem” the judge was unmoved, and gave the singer 60 minutes to appear or face jail and the loss of his -million bail bond.
The neon sign outside describes the club as a ”show venue”, but the only people taking to the stage are crooning customers and their scantily-clad escorts. A report last year by the United States State Department placed Japan on a par with Mexico and Laos for its failure to stem the trade in sex workers.
Zimbawe’s parliamentary elections have not been short on political drama. Former Zanu-PF spin doctor and propaganda chief Jonathan Moyo has now been linked to an initiative of setting up a "third political force". According to media reports, Moyo is the perceived leader of a coalition of about 16 independent candidates who will contest the forthcoming elections.
It is best known for the audacity of its campaigns: protest messages stamped on condom packets and bank notes, and pithy postcards to President Robert Mugabe — but who it is, is less apparent. An underground group of anti-government activists, Zvankwana-Sokwanele — "Enough!" in Zimbabwe’s two main languages, Shona and Ndebele — do not operate out of offices with a nameplate on the door.
There’s a lot of baggage associated locally with the word "protest". Generally speaking, it has become a word with a whole bunch of hidden meanings, depending on who is using it. When the government uses it, it tends to be talking about the "good old days" of anti-apartheid protest against the <i>previous</i> government. But things have take a different turn these days …
An earth tremor injured six miners one day before the earthquake that hit DRDGold’s North West operations on Wednesday, trapping 42 mineworkers underground. The National Union of Mineworkers is incensed about the quake and is blaming the mine management, which, said the union, has a "terrible health and safety record".