A ton (or if you prefer, tonne) of stories making waves: Least Surprising Headline Award Goes to: Robert Mugabe ‘In Bid to Wreck Unity’. The Lord’s Resistance Army rebels are back at it in Uganda. The death toll from the clashes in northeastern Nigeria is now above 700. The Washington Post reminds us that the […]
Some stories for your weekend: Although I am not especially worried that South Africa will succumb to Big Man Syndrome these sorts of stories detailing the extent of the perks of power in South Africa are still always disquieting. Springboks 31-19 All Blacks. South Africa has now taken firm control of the Tri Nations. Morne […]
Here is a smattering of stories that crossed my desk today: The World Food Program has tabbed John Kufuor, President of Ghana from 2001 to earlier this year and head of the African Union in 2007-2008, to lead an effort to fight hunger among schoolchildren throughout the world. He will also help the WFP in […]
Jacob Zuma’s choice to take over as national Commissioner of Police, Bheki Cele, has raised the ire of opposition leaders across the political and ideological spectrum who claim that Cele is unqualified and that his appointment represents the spoils of political access rather than the triumph of expertise. But Cele’s tough talk on crime has […]
Mvume Dandala, the parliamentary leader of the Congress of the People, and that party’s presidential candidate in South Africa’s recent elections, recently offered to resign his leadership post in the beleaguered and fractured party. The party requested his offer, which was probably wise. Dandala was clearly not the best choice for party standard bearer, but […]
So is Zimbabwe entering a new era of openness, as embodied in the country unbanning the BBC, or is Zim still Robert Mugabe’s plaything, as indicated by threats that he is going to shut down the operation of NGO’s in the country? The only thing that seems clear is that we are absolutely unclear as […]
Twenty German companies are working together to harness the North African sun to provide up to 15% of all German electricity needs while at the same time providing power within North Africa. Certainly the sun is a renewable resource that Africa enjoys in abundance. And if it works, this might prove to be the sort […]
In a predictable turn of events, the violence between the military and radical Islamists in northeast Nigeria has led to a growing refugee crisis. President Umaru Yar’Adua has vowed that the military will finish this fight and will hunt down and punish perpetrators of violence. This conflict has all of the hallmarks of a crisis […]
Block out some time and commit it to this epic New Republic piece on Leopold Munyakazi, a Rwandan who came to the United States after his country’s genocide, became a professor at Goucher College and who may or may not have been one of the Hutu genocidaires or an enabler of them. The story involves […]
Rather than remain in increasingly treacherous Mogadishu, Somalis by the thousands are willing to brave the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden in hopes of escaping to Yemen. It seems fair to say that when Yemen seems like an appealing option, things are pretty terrible.
Fighting in northeastern Nigeria continues as police and military clash with a radical Islamist group that claims to be “Nigerian Taliban.” At least 250 have died in the violence. These conflicts are particularly problematic for Nigeria, which is already deeply divided between fundamentalist Islamists on the one hand, who support the nationwide imposition of Sharia […]
Despite what you might have read, England will be hosting the 2015 Rugby World Cup. It will be nice to see the Springboks pummel the hosts on their own soil, the birthplace of the game.
Quick links, with commentary as apropos, on stories that have caught my eye today: Even as tensions in the Niger Delta have abated (for the time being) things have exploded in the northeast as police have clashed with members of an Islamist fundamentalist sect, leaving scores dead and more injured. Now the Nigerian military has […]
There are very, very few realms of this world in which South Africa can pull a power play on England. But global rugby might be one of those realms. The International Rugby Board is set to award the 2015 Rugby World Cup to England, but South Africa (and Italy, which has considerably less pull) are […]
Mac Maharaj had a nice tribute to the work of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Mandela Day, and of course the great man himself that he published in South Africa’s Times newspaper and that the Nelson Mandela Foundation republished.