The first thing you notice as you approach John Kenneth Galbraith’s home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a stone’s throw from Harvard University, is a ”Kerry/ Edwards for president” poster in a ground-floor window, a hint of the politics that has dominated his life. At 95, Galbraith, one of the greatest political and economic thinkers of the past century, is still politically engaged. He speaks about his new book.
The trial of eight South Africans accused of plotting a coup d’état in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea is due to open in Malabo on Monday with claims of torture and denial of due process casting doubts over the proceedings. The eight men detained at the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo along with six Armenians and a German — who died in custody — were arrested in early March for conspiring to topple leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
South Africans Chris Haggard and Robbie Koenig made up for their disappointment at being left out of the Olympic team by winning the doubles title at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington on Sunday night. In June, the National Olympic Committee of South Africa refused to sanction the players’ entry in the Olympic Games.
They inconvenienced commuters and drew the wrath of taxi drivers, but have Kenya’s new transport regulations also managed to make traffic conditions in the country less hazardous? At the start of February this year, the government implemented a series of regulations aimed at reducing mayhem on the nation’s roads, including stipulations on safety belts as well as speed regulation.
Godfrey Mokoena, arguably the most exciting talent in South African athletics, has become the victim of a mix-up in the South African Olympic camp that resulted in him arriving two hours late for his triple-jump qualifying round at the Olympic Stadium in Athens last Friday.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
The quiet man of canoeing, Alan van Coller, did the minimum necessary to progress through in the first heat of Monday morning’s Olympic 1 000m K1 canoe event. The 21-year-old Nicolene Cronje became South Africa’s first Olympic women walker in Monday’s 20km walk, in which she finished 47th.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
Estie Wittstock’s debut in the Olympics ended on Sunday when she finished sixth in the second women’s 400m semifinal in a time of 51,77 seconds. Meanwhile, Johan Cronje failed to make it through to the men’s 1 500m semifinals. In sailing, Gareth Blanckenberg has been quietly handling two races a day for the past week.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
This is the question people ask themselves before almost every presidential election: Why, when the United States is teeming with brilliant and inspiring people, are its voters so often faced with a choice between two deeply unimpressive men? I would have thought the answer was pretty obvious: because deeply unimpressive men continue to be elected.
Justin Gatlin from the United States became one of the youngest winners of the 100m Olympic title on Sunday in one of the greatest finals of all time. The 22-year-old posted a personal best time of 9,85 seconds to beat Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, who timed a European record of 9,86, while 2000 Olympic champion Maurice Greene was third in a season’s best 9,87.
Russia’s Irina Korzhanenko was stripped of her shot-put gold medal on Monday, the first athlete of the Athens Games to lose an Olympic title because of doping. Korzhanenko, the first woman to win a gold medal at the sacred site of Ancient Olympia, tested positive for the steroid stanozolol after Wednesday’s competition.
Special Report: Olympics 2004