Last week, economist Nicoli Nattrass of the University of Cape Town argued that without a rise in taxation one cannot call the budget social democratic. Has Trevor Manuel presented an election budget, or does it reflect a renewed commitment to social democracy?

It must be something in the stars. Show business is going through incredible upheavals. Michael Jackson dragged into a Los Angeles police station in chains; leading Bolshoi ballerina Anastasiya Volochkova fighting through the Russian courts to be reinstated after being dropped from the starry line-up.

Zimbabwe’s worsening fuel crisis has occasioned some unusual social customs. Of these, the daily activities of Golden Chamisa (20) certainly rank among the more desperate. As fair exchange for his services the truckers simply allow Chamisa to siphon-off the last dregs of fuel from the empty tankers they are returning to South Africa.

A pro-government mob was laying siege to a French military base in Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital on Monday, and French forces were firing tear gas and rounds to try to break up the crowd. French soldiers left the base in armoured personnel carriers to confront the 250-strong, rock-throwing mob.

Less than a year after sweeping his National Rainbow Coalition (NRC) to power, Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki has won a good housekeeping seal of approval from the stony-faced International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Breton Woods institution has found that Kibaki made good on his promise to tackle corruption head on.