Jacob Zuma is in trouble. Yesterday Constitutional Court Justice Zac Yacoob announced that he had “no difficulty” with the justifications that the state put forth to justify the search and seizure operations it conducted on Zuma and his attorneys’ homes and offices and that the “creative conspiracy” Jacob Zuma was allegedly involved in justified broad […]
So, I was saying about Robert Mugabe's crass manipulations of the system? Oh yes — that he is transparent in his willingness to use them. Mugabe has awarded civil servants an enormous pay hike on the eve of the elections. Very subtle. In the meantime, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has called for more […]
Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, or just don't care about these sorts of things, you might have heard that Admiral Fallon has resigned as head of Central Command. Here is a link to the map of Central Command's area of responsibility (AOR). They are responsible for Iraq as well as many of […]
Apparently media criticism, fair and unfair, comes from without as well as from within. The BBC has been taking the attack to both South Africa and Jacob Zuma, and while I’ve been a critic of Jacob Zuma in particular in the past, at least some of the Beeb's coverage appears to couch sensationalism in the guise of […]
At Pambazuka News Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh provide a trenchant overview of Zimbabwe's “political roller-coaster.” Meanwhile reports of intimidation of opposition supporters continue to emerge. If a tragedy represents a series of events in which the inevitable outcome is visible to the audience but not to the protagonists, Zimbabwe's election is shaping up to […]
Jacob Zuma's day in court has come. Well, not the big day that everyone anticipates, but the ANC's president and South Africa's presumed successor to Thabo Mbeki has appeared before the Constitutional Court to determine which documents might be able to be used against Zuma (and the French arms company, Thint) and which may be […]
The New York Times reports on a study indicating that a vaccination introduced five years ago has virtually eradicated a dangerous type of childhood meningitis. The authors of the study believe that 5,000 children's lives a year will be saved as a result.
Joshua Kucera, in a diary published in Slate, describes a Xinjiang Province undergoing a great transition. He explored Kashgar, Korla, Urumqi, and Kanas Lake and in all these places he paints a vivid picture of an Uighur people and culture's regional dominance being challenged by an influx of Han Chinese people, money, and government power. […]
Commentators are speculating about the end of the Barroso Commission as we know it. It seems as if he resignation of EU health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou to take up the post as Cyprus’ Foreign Minister two weeks ago was only the beginning. Effective March 14 one of the arguably most successful Commissioners, internal policy head […]
I do not always agree with J. Peter Pham, but there is little doubting his intelligence, knowledge, ability, and devotion to Africa-related issues. He is also one of the most significant voices among those who look at Africa from the vantage point of American policies and interests. He has a roundup of Africa-related issues at […]
Vanity Fair has an excellent article by David Rose about the Bush Administration almost forcing Gaza into a Civil War. I am not positive I agree with the thesis- I tend to think that a battle would have happened eventually- but the capriciousness, stubbornness, and willingness to work with very shady people simply because they […]
Europeans took to the polls over the weekend, with perhaps unsurprising results: Spain's socialist Prime Minister Zapatero was reelected against a bland looking Mariano Rajoy, despite an economic crisis that still has to fully play out and France's governing UMP was given a shake-up in communal elections, serving as a warning sign that the electorate is […]
Although the ICC One Day cricket World Championship does not carry with it the cache of a World Cup title, it still would represent a nice feather in the cap of the Proteas. The South Africans are within range of claiming that title if they can just muster up two more wins over Bangladesh. Given […]
In politics the most effective leaders use both carrots and sticks. Carrots serve as enticements, sticks as a sort of tough love, a sign of strength and power. In Zimbabwe today, Robert Mugabe is not so subtle. Carrots and sticks serve as too mild of a metaphor for a man who is more inclined to […]
Nigeria is no stranger to Big Men. In that country they usually come from the military, are fond of coups, and do not relinquish power easily. So while it might be disquieting to hear that former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to manipulate his country's power structure in last week's People's Democratic Party convention, held […]