Regions

It's June 1st and that leaves only a short twelve days for pro and con EU Treaty campaigners in Ireland. They have their work cut out for them, according to recent polls. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that “NO” campaigners are gaining ground, particularly among the conservative and the country's large farming population who see […]

From Zapiro, The Mail & Guardian 29 May, 2008:

The MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai has taken off the gloves against Robert Mugabe. In what he called a “State of the Nation” address, Tsvangirai pulled no punches in discussing Zimbabwe's “State of disrepair.” Perhaps more perilously, he also declared that there will be no amnesty for those who have engaged in political violence. Such a declaration […]

The United States Congress is finally undertaking to remove the African National Congress from various terrorism watch lists in the United States — a status the ANC, or even Mkhonto we Sizwe, never should have suffered in the first place.

At The Mail & Guardian Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya undertakes a pretty sound (and enjoyable to behold) thrashing of Connie Mulder's Freedom Front Plus party's claims for special recognition for Afrikaners  from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO). Here is a taste: What freedom is Mulder and his chommies asking for? From whom? Freedom is the […]

According to the latest statements by CIA director Michael Hayden in today's Washington Post, Al-Qaeda's influence and popularity is on the downturn. He says that they do not have the influence that they once had, and that the Iraq invasion providing a platform for increasing their popularity has degraded considerably. Although this blog focuses solely […]

The United States’ Government Accountability Office has issued a report indicating that food aid to sub-Saharan Africa is woefully insufficient. This comes as no surprise. The optimist in me sees the timing of the report — which comes on the eve of a United Nations summit in Rome to address the global food crisis — […]

David Ignatius has a column in The Washington Post revealing the ways in which Rwanda has, against all odds, managed in many ways to come to grips with the horrible events of 1994. The Rwanda story is unspeakably incomprehensible for most of us, and yet the last fourteen years have shown the ways in which […]

This analysis in The Mail & Guardian seems to capture pretty well the ways in which recent events — most obviously, but not solely, the explosion of violence against foreign Africans — seem to have shaken the ruling party from its complacency. The responses from Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma have been especially telling. Even […]

Simba Makoni drew a great deal of attention when he stepped out and announced his challenge to Robert Mugabe. He finished third in the recent, and still contested, elections but more importantly he may well have broken the dam of silence and fear. His candidacy simply could not draw from a firm enough base of support […]

Mexico is one of the largest exporters of corn. Nevertheless, it also imports almost half of what it consumes. In a world of skyrocketing food prices, this dependency is becoming a national security problem. In order to reduce pressure over rising food prices, President Felipe Calderon has launched an initiative that promises to improve the […]

A few years after leaving his post, a once faithful minion publishes a sensational tell-all story that sends shock waves all through the nation's capital. Its revelations not only stab his ex-boss in the back, but cast doubt on the integrity of the entire administration, the robstness of the media, and the state of the […]