It is what the French call un coup de jeune — an influx of youth — and, as well as Lance Armstrong’s effervescent form, the usual series of horrendous crashes, and heavy rain, it is what has set the opening phase of the Tour de France apart. It is many years since so many young riders made such an impression.
If a week is a long time in politics, then three weeks is an eternity, but that is all the time it’s taken to change the shape of southern hemisphere and, possibly, world rugby. The Pacific Islanders close their five-match campaign in Gosford, Australia, on Saturday against South Africa.
The bomb attack in Tel Aviv last weekend highlights the desperate need to achieve a peace settlement. It highlights, too, the futility of the wall Israel is building on Palestinian land, a wall condemned by the International Court of Justice last Friday. What action is needed to put an end to this dance of death?
Every month, Melissa Howard attended district meetings at Hooters, trying to talk profits and stock volumes while her co-workers focused elsewhere. But as the only woman among 10 store managers at a Wal-Mart store in Indiana, she feared losing her job if she objected. Now US supermarket giant Wal-Mart is facing a historic class action by 1,5-million female staff.
Almost 12 years after Angolans last went to the polls, prospects of an election are becoming brighter. Earlier this month, Angola’s Council of the Republic — the highest presidential advisory body — advised President José Eduardo dos Santos to exercise ”judicial influence” on Parliament to approve the legal framework for elections in September 2006.
There comes a time in many United States presidential elections when things begin to get really tough. And then there is only one thing for it — the candidates bring out their children. Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards can fill whole podiums with their offspring. Now, the White House has struck back with a double whammy — the Bush twins.
Former Mail & Guardian journalist Farouk Chothia and his Cameroonian colleague Ange Ngu Thomas were still under house arrest in Limbe, Cameroon, on Thursday. Chothia, a producer for the BBC, was detained on Sunday together with BBC reporter Ngu Thomas on accusations of spying.
The angry response of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to the Mail & Guardian‘s report on the African Union summit last week gave a signal that the South African government is hardening its stance on Zimbabwe. Zuma denied supporting Zimbabwe’s move to stifle a report by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights critical of that country’s human rights record.
On Tuesday most independent Senegalese newspapers stayed off the streets. Commercial radio stations substituted music for news bulletins and reported only items related to the imprisonment of Madiambal Diagne, publication director of independent daily Le Quotidien. Diagne has been held since July 9 for publishing articles about alleged fraud in the customs service.
Peace in the Sudan is undoubtedly overdue. It is important for Sudan’s neighbouring countries. Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Kenya harbour refugees from the long-running civil war. Uganda continues to encounter the terror and abductions perpetrated by the child soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army, which is based in southern Sudan.