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On the war path with Samantha Power

Trust Republicans to give battle over the wrong broad and for the wrong reasons. Political posturing aside, Susan Rice, whom Barack Obama has appointed to be his national security adviser – despite or perhaps because of her role in developing the administration’s Benghazi fable – is likely less dangerous than Samantha Power, who will be

Soweto pupils to represent South Africa in France

Eight pupils from the Winnie Ngwekazi Primary School, in Soweto, will represent South Africa at a children’s parliament in France this week, it was announced on Thursday. The eight 12-year-olds were being sent to the event by the arts and culture department and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, they said in a statement. Democracy required

20 years jail for black rapist of 12-year old

A man who raped a teenager has been sent to jail for 20 years by the Dundee Regional Court, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday. Keletso Innocent Ntuli attacked and raped the 12-year-old while she was heading home after New Year’s Day celebrations in Nquthu, near Ulundi, said police spokesperson Thulani Zwane. He said the girl

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid ‘do not violate hate laws in Toronto’

The Toronto city council has no legal grounds to deny grant money to Pride over the gay festival’s refusal to ban the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Toronto’s chief lawyer has told Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee. In a confidential and frank April report obtained by the Star, city solicitor Anna Kinastowski says she “cannot

We’ll spy on you through your dishwasher

More and more personal and household devices are connecting to the internet, from your television to your car navigation systems to your light switches. Gen. Petraeus former CIA chief mused about the emergence of an “Internet of Things” — that is, wired devices — at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital firm. “‘Transformational’

Judge Edith Jones in the firing line for race and crime remarks

Civil rights groups filed a complaint this week against a federal judge in Houston after she allegedly said during a lecture that some minorities are prone to violence. Judge Edith Jones, who serves on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and was a Bush-era Supreme Court frontrunner, allegedly made the comment while speaking on

Obama’s the sinner; Holder his ‘sin eater’

Big media have been willing, even eager, to pass the buck for Barack for the past five years. But the Fourth Estate rose as one on its proverbial hind legs when the president made the mistake of going after their own: members of the media. For doing their jobs, Associated Press journalists were spied on

Millions of illegal cigarettes seized at Warmbaths

Millions of illegal cigarettes were recovered from an LP Gas tanker in BelaBela (Warmbaths) after being inspected by police on 31 May 2013. The cigarettes were concealed in hidden compartments within the tanker, which entered South Africa via the Groblersbrug border post between Botswana and South Africa. Authorities from the South African Police Service recovered

High Court to hear ANCYL liquidation case

The High Court in Johannesburg will hear a liquidation application against the ANC Youth League on Friday. Phil Patlanski, a lawyer for Z2 Presentations CC, which brought the application, said on Thursday the matter was expected to be heard on Friday morning. The close corporation trades as University Events Management (UEM). The application came after

Malema does not mind ‘monkey business’

Expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema is “OK” with a picture of him under one of a monkey in a Bloemfontein school classroom, the Sowetan newspaper reported on Thursday. “They can do that with me, displaying me next to the monkeys, it’s OK,” Malema told the newspaper. “Nothing shocks me. Our people are subjected

Land affairs minister damaging investor confidence in South Africa – Agri SA

Policy uncertainty is affecting investor confidence in the country, farmer union Agri SA president Johannes Möller said on Tuesday. “It is important to guard against South Africa being seen as a risky, unstable and uncompetitive economy by investors,” he said in a statement. “A visible lack of consensus on economic and social policy is undermining

Influx of West African immigrants to South Africa

Government should take measures to assimilate foreigners into the diversified South African community, an asylum-seeker rights group said on Wednesday. Foreigners in South Africa lived on a knife’s edge, International West Africa Asylum Seekers Foundation managing director Victoria Philips-Olaboye said. “You need to see the multitude of people which gathers at Marabastad [home affairs offices].

Italian soccer fans sentenced for ‘racism’

Six fans of lower-division club Pro Patria have been issued jail sentences from 40 days to two months for inciting racial hatred during a January friendly against AC Milan. After repeated racist chants directed at him during the match, Milan and Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng kicked the ball in anger at a section of the

Designer John Galliano ‘didn’t mean’ anti-Jewish remarks

Iconic British designer John Galliano, sacked by Dior in 2011 for making drunken racist tirades, says he is “grateful” for his fall from grace because it forced him to confront his drug and alcohol demons. In what was billed as the designer’s first sober interview since the career-shattering scandal that saw him ousted from the