South Africa's governing party led in preliminary results Thursday from a parliamentary election expected to propel Jacob Zuma to the presidency in a remarkable feat for a man once embroiled in sex and corruption scandals.
South Africans lined up before sunrise Wednesday to vote in an election energized by the hugely popular Jacob Zuma, who has overcome sex and corruption scandals and helped generate an excitement not seen since the country's first multiracial vote in 1994.
For all the talk of crime, jobs or AIDS, South Africa's parliamentary vote Wednesday is all about Jacob Zuma, who has survived corruption and sex scandals to emerge as one of the country's most popular leaders ever.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world Monday to rally against the threat that intolerance could rise as a result of the economic crisis, saying "the time is now" to stamp out racism.
Clear-plastic ballot boxes were nearly as empty as Port-au-Prince's unusually deserted streets Sunday as few voters turned out for Senate elections in which candidates from a major populist party were not allowed to run.
The gleaming shopping mall has everything you could ask for: brand-name outlets such as Timberland and Puma, a garishly colored food court and a courtyard with one of those nifty dancing water features.
Zimbabwe's central bank governor admitted Monday that he took hard currency from the bank accounts of private businesses and foreign aid groups without permission, saying he was trying to keep his country's cash-strapped ministries running.
It's easy to look around this proud, polyglot city and think that the favorite slogan of the new South Africa - a "Rainbow Nation" of races striving together for prosperity - is becoming a reality.
Fidel Castro says the Obama administration did not go far enough in softening sanctions, and criticized it for leaving in place the embargo that bars most trade and travel between the two countries.
From his office a few steps from the White House, Ron Kirk, the Dallas mayor turned trade ambassador, now presides over the government's elite cadre of diplomats and litigators trained to fend off piracy, deter dumping and pry open markets for American products from beef to wheat to tractors.
