Mbeki Leaves Mixed Legacy

South Africa expects influx of 40K prostitutes

(NEWSER) - Prostitutes from around the world are making their way to South Africa hoping to make a fortune from frisky soccer fans at next month's World Cup. Authorities predict 40,000 sex workers will arrive to greet 500,000 foreign fans. Most are coming from South Africa's impoverished neighboring countries, although one hotel boss says prostitutes have arrived from as far away as China, Venezuela, and Pakistan. More»

Asian demand for rhino horn fueling poaching crisis

(NEWSER) - Rampant rhino poaching is thwarting efforts to protect the animal around the world, according to a report from a group of conservationists. The organization blamed a decline in effective law enforcement for a surge in poaching in South Africa and Zimbabwe over the last few years. Demand for rhino horn for use in Asian medicines is fueling the rise in poaching, the BBC reports. More»

In policy shift, country will ramp up testing and drugs for babies

(AP) - South Africa said today it will expand HIV testing and treatment for pregnant women and babies, an eagerly awaited shift in a country that has more people living with HIV than any other. Today's speech by President Jacob Zuma on World AIDS Day was viewed as a turning point for a nation whose previous administration disputed the link between HIV and AIDS and pushed garlic treatments as a cure. One Harvard study said that resulted in more than 300,000 premature deaths. More»

Committee passes over all three candidates, doesn't award $5M to any

(NEWSER) - Nobody has won this year's $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the committee responsible for picking a winner announced today. That’s an enormous snub to the people eligible for the award, who include former heads of state Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and John Kufuor of Ghana. The committee professed to have “full respect” for them but said, without elaborating, that it hadn’t been able to pick a winner, the AP reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton ended her African tour today on a note of optimism colored by disdain, the New York Times reports. The secretary of state visited seven nations over 11 days and made her final remarks on the Cape Verde islands off the coast. “I leave Africa after this remarkable trip even more committed,” Clinton said. She commented on the “joy and energy Africans have,” as well as on having “seen the worst humanity can do to itself.” More»