Is Tokyo Sexwale laying the foundation for a run at the Presidency if Jacob Zuma's path to power is cut off by his corruption case? That was the first question that came to mind when I saw that Sexwale has started pressing Thabo Mbeki to come clean about his role in the arms deal that increasingly is taking […]
There is less than a fortnight before Zimbabweans go to the polls in what could be an epochal election but in what will most likely result in a rigged and effectively predetermined reaffirmation of Robert Mugabe's stranglehold on power. Mugabe is receiving support from some vocal sources, at least some of which makes it pretty […]
(Hummer H6 Player Edition is a $103,000 "Super SUV," six-wheeled with a horse power of 325hp and torque of 365 lbs-ft) Darfur and the Olympic games. China is a key player in both, but rather than throwing a blanket over both issues to determine cause-effect and prescribe a solution, we need to be more careful about […]
Freedom House (FH) recently came out with their 2007 Freedom in the World Rankings and I will individually go through their analysis of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, with Kyrgyzstan the focus today. Freedom House does a difficult and controversial job very well, and their work provides a great amount of insight into individual […]
Several Yemeni papers have reported that at-large al-Qaeda leader Qasim al-Raymi has been spotted at a funeral in Sana’a. Al-Raymi, according to al-Needa, was spotted by an eyewitness in Sana’a beautiful, tangled Old City. This report is seconded by al-Sahwa (which also has a picture of al-Raymi). (Thanks to Greg for his translation skills) Al-Raymi […]
The European Parliament rang in its 50th anniversary today, with a 'solemn ceremony’, in what FT commentator Andrew Bounds calls “an even more surreal session” in Strasbourg than usual. Since 1958 and with the growth of the Union the legitimacy (first appointed then directly elected), size (from 142 members to the current 785) and role […]
Good article from The Middle East Times about Iraqi journalists defying death threats. I don't know if this qualifies as “good news” or not, given the circumstances, but it is pretty inspiring.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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