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/ 1 December 2006
In Moscow shortly after 9/11 a clever Russian academic told me: "Don’t believe all that stuff Putin is dishing out about how sorry we all are about what has happened. A lot of people here are thrilled to see the Americans get a kicking.” A few months ago I heard a cluster of diplomats lament the difficulties of doing business with the Russians, writes Max Hastings.
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/ 1 December 2006
We need to pay attention to the unfinished business of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It isn’t just because, like every process, it ended. It is also that much was promised and some of it was not delivered — not because of Pumla (Gobodo-Madikizela) or Archbishop (Desmond Tutu), but because of us as South Africans.
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/ 1 December 2006
The prostitutes lining the roads around Turin, a hub for the Nigerian sex trade, have names that evoke dreams of a bright future — Joy, Blessing, Hope. Hope that they could escape poverty at home in Africa’s most populous nation drew these women to Italy. But when they arrived, they were saddled with crushing debts. They were spat at, insulted, robbed and even raped.
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/ 1 December 2006
The Mail & Guardian‘s Kabuika Kamunga speaks to Moise Musangana, Jean-Pierre Bemba’s spokesperson, about what motivated him to concede defeat in the DRC
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/ 1 December 2006
Not since Tom Wolfe called John Updike a pile of old bones has the United States literary scene witnessed such a catfight, writes Lawrence Donegan.
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/ 1 December 2006
We’re confused as we arrive. Our little team of protesters, totalling three, wanders around Constitution Hill trying to locate the start of the Take Back the Night march. The plan is to fearlessly walk through one of Jo’burg’s toughest neighbourhoods, to kick off the 16 Days of Activism campaign, reclaiming our right to move freely through any part of our country without fear of violence or abuse.
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/ 1 December 2006
Lisa Vetten looks at the gulf between new progressive laws and their implementation.
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/ 1 December 2006
One of the most extraordinary and amusing people I have ever encountered is the British journalist-turned-politician Boris Johnson, whose razor-sharp wit conceals a steely purpose, writes Tony Leon. An article he wrote about the far more famous Tony (Blair) said: ”No day is more postponed against by a politician than the day of his own retirement.”
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/ 1 December 2006
Under the eyes of the world this time, Madagascar goes to the polls on Sunday in presidential elections that will test its democratic credibility. The last presidential contest, in 2001, from which then-president Didier Ratsiraka banned observers, split the country for six months and drove it to the point of civil war.
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/ 1 December 2006
Relations between Rwanda and France have hit rock bottom in the past few days. This was not unexpected. One of the immediate causes for relations turning frosty is French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere’s recent issuing of arrest warrants for nine senior Rwandan military officers and his calls for Rwandan President Paul Kagame to face trial for the downing of President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane on April 6 1994.