Just some quick updates on stories I have reported in recent days:
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has heard the voices of conscience in his country and across the globe and he has announced the cancellation of the Aussie cricket team's tour of Zimbabwe that was scheduled for September. Australia's governing body for the sport, Cricket Australia, is seeking an alternative neutral venue to hold the matches, likely in South Africa.
Meanwhile outside fury continues to fester in the wake of the announcement that Zimbabwe will lead the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Economic Development. What is most peculiar is that even as alarm over the crisis is clearly growing among African nations, it seems evident that the support for Zimbabwe represents growing dissatisfaction of the developing world toward the west. The sentiment and frustration is understandable; the means of expression is pretty much unjustifiable.
Finally, Thabo Mbeki has recently made efforts to assuage a possibly shaky world, including the leadership of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer/football that South Africa is prepared successfully to stage the 2010 World Cup. Morocco, which was once seen as South Africa's chief competition for the 2010 bid, has thrown its support behind Mbeki and the South African effort.
