Zanu-PF will be holding its elective national congress in December. It is this congress — it is hoped — that will settle the critical succession issue within this organisation and, by implication, the future president of Zimbabwe. But Zanu-PF is constituted by various interest groups that are vying for control and eminence of the organisation
Kaizer Chiefs have collected an array trophies this season and will soon learn if another glittering piece of silverware is on its way to Naturena as they fight it out with Ajax Cape Town in the Absa Cup last 16. But this weekend the league race will take a back seat as they meet in Mmabatho on Saturday.
Augusta, Georgia, is a curious place. For four days next week it will be the centre of the sports universe. TV cameras will beam sumptuous shots of loblolly pines and blushing azaleas around the world, each idyllic image from the tournament accompanied by over-romantic commentary.
Close to two million Angolans could go hungry because their government has banned genetically modified (GM) food, the United Nations’s food agency warned this week. A shipment of 19 000 tonnes of maize from the United States may have to turn back because the Southern African state has become concerned about the environmental risks of biotechnology.
Election manifestos: More police doesn’t mean less lawlessness. For many voters, crime is the key issue of this election, and it is not surprising that political parties have given the matter a bit of thought in preparing their election manifestos. Each party makes some excellent points, but at times the rhetoric descends into simply promising more, better and faster.
The assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin — the partially sighted, wheelchair-bound quadraplegic — is a clear demonstration of the paralysis and blindness of Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government, writes Ronnie Kasrils, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, and Maz Ozinsky is an MPL for the African National Congress in the Western Cape.
The United States, under pressure from its giant pharmaceutical companies, is trying to undermine the use in poor countries of cheap, copycat Aids drugs, made by “pirate”, generic companies but validated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), campaigners claim. US drug companies want the money promised for President George W Bush’s Aids plan to be spent on their products.
This weekend the Bulls and Stormers squads will emulate their fans. They will have their feet up while watching, on large format television screens no doubt, the efforts of their Super 12 rivals. The idea that South African sides get a raw deal having to go on tour for a month has been done to death.
Hopes of a breakthrough in the stalled global trade talks were dealt a blow last Friday when a leaked letter from Europe’s trade commissioner highlighted the determination of Brussels to continue its -billion- a-year support for farmers.
France’s hugely popular Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, was handed the job this week of spearheading an immensely unpopular programme of reforms as President Jacques Chirac made sweeping changes to his Cabinet after the centre-right’s humiliating defeat in regional elections.