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Today's tragedy in US: Mbeki returns to SA, Madiba in USA An American Airlines flight that had just taken off for the Dominican Republic crashed Monday, and buildings reportedly were on fire in the Queens borough of New York City. Sapa-AFP quotes CNN as saying there were 246 passengers on the plane, along with nine crew members. Television reports are quoting the Federal Aviation Administration as saying they have no evidence that the crash is the result of a terrorist attack. Bill Schumann of the Federal Aviation Administration said there was no immediate indication of what caused the crash. He said the plane crashed about 8km from Kennedy Airport. All metro area airports - Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark - were closed following the crash, in Rockaway, Queens. The Office of Emergency Management said all bridges and tunnels in the city were closed except to emergency vehicles. South African Foreign Affairs officials were in close contact with the country's mission in New York on Monday afternoon after a passenger airliner crashed near John F Kennedy International Airport, spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said. "We are monitoring the situation and will remain in close contact with our mission in New York for information," Mamoepa said in Pretoria. President Thabo Mbeki, who attended a United Nations General Assembly debate at the weekend, safely returned to South Africa earlier in the day. His aircraft arrived in Cape Town shortly after 2pm, presidential spokesperson Tasneem Carrim said. Mamoepa said his department might have further comment once more information about the accident became available. Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was still at the UN debate in New York. Mamoepa said former president Nelson Mandela, who was scheduled to meet US President George Bush earlier in the day, was in Washington at the time of the crash. Vic Maharaj, spokesman for the South African Embassy in Washington, said it was too early to react to the crash. He said South Africans who were concerned about their relatives in America should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs. "No announcements on arrangements for local residents have even been made... Right now they are still speculating on what happened." Mamoepa said South Africans who needed information on the incident should contact the USA task team in Pretoria which was set up after the September 11 attacks. The number is 012-351-1000. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - Ek kan die versoeking nie weerstaan nie. Ek moet hierdie week skryf oor wat presies ek een jaar gelede aangevang het. Vir die wat my skryfwerk ken en my kolom gereeld lees, is dit seker nie moeilik om te raai nie. Kytie was in Kuba. Vrydag 10 November presies een jaar gelede ek en die Big Cheese en ‘n fotograaf van Australie op Delta Airlines van Washington na Atlanta en van Atlanta na die Bahamas gevlieg. By Nassau se dingy lughawe het ons in ‘n tou gaan staan by Air Cubana. Ons het op ‘n ou Russiese yak geklim en ek het gewonder of ek ooit weer voet in Suid-Afrika of in die United States for that matter sou sit. Kuba voel mos soos die uithoek van hierdie aarde, ‘n geisoleerde samelewing wat gehul is in scary stories en gerugte. Ek het seker heeltemal te veel oorlogstories gelees in daardie literatuur beweging van die tagtigs, die sogenaamde “grensliteratuur.” Suid-Afrika se skoongesig seuns het mos teen Kubane geveg in Angola. Skoolgeskiedenis en grensliteratuur en oorlogsretoriek leer ‘n mens om nie aan die enemy te dink as “mense” nie, maar as ‘n gesigslose massa evil beings wat jou bedreig. Daarom het ek nie mooi geweet wat om van die “Kubane” te verwag nie. Dit was amper asof ek nie aan hulle gedink het as mense nie, maar as ‘n nasie sonder individuele persoonlikhede. Partykeer wonder ek of dit is wat in apartheids Suid-Afrika gebeur het. Dat ons mense “ontmens” het deur hulle te sien as deel van ‘n massa: ‘n massa Afrikaners of ‘n massa swartes aan wie ons ‘n gemeenskaplike karaktertrekke of hulle te stereotipeer as bv kommuniste of rassistiese rockspiders for that matter. In elk geval, die Kubane het my voete onder my uitgeslaan met hulle besondere omgee vir mekaar. Dit is ‘n warm kultuur waarin elkeen die bietjie deel wat hy het, en ek was ongeloof lik hartseer toe ek terug gekom het Washington toe. In Kuba leef mense nie verbymekaar soos ons hier doen nie, hulle leef saam met mekaar. Tot in ‘n mate idealiseer ek steeds daardie eilandjie, nou presies ‘n jaar nadat ek in Kuba was. Maar dit help nie om Kuba te idealiseer nie, daar is genoeg om ‘n mens bang te maak. Ek was in ‘n taxi saam met ‘n Kubaan laasjaar en ons wou deur ‘n tonnel in Havana inry. Ongelukkig word ons toe deur die sekuriteitspolisie gestop. Geen Kubane mag die tonnel gebruik nie, slegs toeriste en governments-amptenare. Oor naweke word die Kubane wel toegelaat om deur die tonnel te ry, maar laasjaar was die die Soladiarty with Cuba conference in Havana en daarom word my Kubaan toe deur die sekuriteitspolisie beveel om om te draai toe hy deur die tonnel wil ry. My Kubaan se identiteisdokumente word toe gekonfiskeer. In my hele lewe het ek nog nooit soveel vrees op iemand se gesig en in sy skouers gesien nie. Nie omdat sy lewe in Gevaar is nie, maar omdat hy ‘n doodgewone civilian is wat deur ‘n sisteem bedreig word. Toe ek sy vrees sien, toe besef ek vir die eerste keer waardeur soveel Suid-Afrikaners gesit is onder die apartheidsregime. So alhoewel ek Kuba se mense idealiseer, voel dit asof ek ‘n mission ontdek het: Ek wil ‘n bydrae maak vir die mense van Kuba op die een of ander manier, soos soveel mense ons landjie gehelp het. Maar vandag is Kuba die laaste ding waaroor ek worried is vandat ek alweer die nuutste nuus gehoor het. Vandag is daar ander dinge waaroor ek bekommerd is, soos die laaste plane crash ‘n paar uur terug in New York. En die latest claims van Osama Bin Laden dat hy nuclear weapons het. Die wereld is ‘n scary plek. En van die os op die jas....Die Big Cheese het ook 'n bydrae virrie week van November 11th. Vanoggend sien ek die Baas het so 'n effe rooi kleur op sy gesig en sy oe spring senuagtig rond in hulle kaste, asof hy geskrik het. "How do you spell Taliban?" vra die Big Cheese. Ek spel die klankies mooi uit en ek sien die Big Cheese se gesig raak weer 'n normale kleur. "Sjoe" sug die Big Cheese. Hy dag hy het sopas 'n e-mail van die Taliban af gekry met die subject heading "Thank you." Waarvoor sou hulle hom nou bedank, het die Big CHeese gewonder (Ek dink hy het gewonder watse pro-peace of save-the world and Cuba propaganda sy on staff journalist nou al weer loop en verkondig het). Daarop check ek toe die e-mail uit. Dit is van die Tulipans. Wat 'n unfortunate van om te he in hierdie tye.... Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] Zimbabwe: a view from inside The Zimbabwean situation through the eyes of author Cathy Buckle ('African Tears'). Since the September 11 disaster and the dramatic increase in world news, the crisis in Zimbabwe seems to have taken a backseat. This is what Cathy writes in her latest letter to friends and family. "Dear Family and Friends, There are a host of things that keep coming back to remind and haunt me about the nightmare seven months that I lived on a farm with men who call themselves 'war veterans.' When I wrote about my own experiences of those months from hell, it was cathartic but to this day I cannot even open my own book because it is all still too real and too raw. Those of you who have read African Tears will know that it is not just a story about a white woman on a Zimbabwean farm but about the political monster whose evil is devouring men, women and children of all colours and professions. I am now working on another book which picks up both my story and that of Zimbabwe because the evil continues. As I write this letter I am listening to all of the presenters on ZBC's Radio 1 saying goodbye to their listeners. The Zimbabwe government have declared that Radio 1, the only light listening and slightly informative news station will close down next Thursday and be changed into a sports channel. This is almost the final step in our government's programme of completely closing the media down and will leave hundreds more people unemployed and emotionally broken. This week I have spent many hours talking to both black and white Zimbabweans. Their encounters and two photographs have made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and made me more than ever determined to speak out about the unspeakable horror that has become everyday life in Zimbabwe. In my letter this week I would like to tell just a couple of the things I have heard and hope I can find the words to paint this picture of our continuing terror. In African Tears I tell how one weekend the 'war veterans' kept demanding that I give them my truck so that they could use it for a political rally and in order to avoid a confrontation I left the farm for the weekend. When I got back one of my employees had been tortured by 'war veterans' who had burnt her on her upper lip with a heated iron bar. That horror of seeing Jane's burned mouth, the thought of the agonising pain, the smell of burning flesh and the weeks of carefully tending her wound - all of that stayed with me and was bought right back into the present this week when I saw the photographs of a 27 year old mans' feet. This man, this week, was burned on the soles of his feet with heated iron bars by men calling themselves 'war veterans'. This 27 year old man was accused by the 'war veterans' of supporting the opposition party and was punished by being burnt. This man is one of dozens who have been burned with heated rods on the soles of their feet. The skin is gone, the wounds are massive, purple and suppurating and the look on the man's face is of pure agony. The people who did this to him have been identified and are known to the police. The police were contacted for comment, they confirmed the incident had taken place but have not made any arrests and refused to explain why. The second thing which has haunted me this week is the horror experienced by a five year old boy. 40 marauding 'war veterans' went on the rampage through three farms just outside Marondera one evening this week. Farm workers, their wives and children were ordered by 'war veterans' to vacate their homes. When they did not come out, the veterans smashed all the windows, broke down the doors and pulled people out screaming and kicking. They chased everyone out and ordered them to leave. Anyone who could not run fast enough was beaten by men with sticks, knobkerries, chains and stones. A five year old child could not run fast enough and was whipped across his face by men with sticks. The attackers are known to the local Police, none have been arrested, they all reside in shacks on invaded farms in the area. The child's forehead, cheek and upper lip are swollen and lacerated. Seeping wounds weep under his nose and his upper lip is enormously swollen. In his mother's arms, this five year old boy in his little blue and green checked shirt, dried blood caked on the collar, could be your son or mine. His eyes show fear and exhaustion, confusion and pain. If I didn't know better I would say the look in the child's eyes is the same look I have seen a dozen times this week in the eyes of all the people I have spoken to - a look of despair and resignation. A look I saw on a nurses face who has not had disposable gloves to wear at work for over two months. A look I saw on a newly redunant businessman's face - a man who was approached by a skeletal and terrified farm worker who had only eaten roots and insects for four days and was hiding in the bush with his family having been evicted by 'war veterans'. A look I saw on the face of a middle aged farmer who had been ordered to vacate his home by 'war veterans' and was trying to decide what to do with a lifetimes work and posessions. There are so many thousands of people now receiving this letter from me every week and I thank you all for your loving messages and continued support. I believe this letter now goes on to at least six major websites every week and I thank those webmasters for their continued support. Rod Stevens at http://www.btinternet.com is now also running my letters and I am indebted for his friendship and support. Rod is also publicising African Tears for me and I am most grateful for that because I can only use word of mouth to tell of the horrors. Until next week, with love, Cathy" [ Top ] Mbeki visits Ground Zero New York - President Thabo Mbeki visited Ground Zero in New York -- the site where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre were destroyed in the September 11 attacks - on Friday afternoon. Mbeki visited the site with an official from New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani's office after arriving in New York at 12:30. He was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma and South Africa's ambassador in Washington Sheila Sisulu. "President Mbeki was shown the devastation caused by the terror attacks on New York," spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said on Saturday morning. Mbeki is leading a South African delegation to the General Debate of the 56th annual Session of the United Nations General Assembly that is due to start in New York on Saturday. The debate was originally scheduled for September 24 but was rescheduled following the September 11 attacks. The General Debate is one of the most important sessions where heads of state and government state their priorities and policies on issues of global, international, regional and national significance. It is expected that the global fight against international terrorism will receive particular attention. Mbeki will be the third speaker at the opening session of the debate. He will address the assembly also in his capacity as Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, which celebrates its 14th anniversary this year. Brazil is traditionally the first speaker, followed by the US as host country to the United Nations. Khumalo said Mbeki was expected to deal with terrorism in his speech. Mbeki will later hold bilateral meetings with Mexican President Vincent Fox and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Later on Saturday Mbeki will meet with UN secretary general Kofi Annan for a luncheon. On Sunday he will hold bilateral talks with US President George W Bush on among other topics, the Middle East, the fight against terrorism, African development, the progress made in the Burundi peace process and the involvement of South Africa's troops in Burundi. Mbeki will also sign the UN convention on the financing of terrorism. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Nel's KitchenRagel Nel Ragel Nel Washington D.C. - Last week, I chased the light. No, I haven't gone poetic on you (or completely beserk, for that matter!). I really DID chase the light. It all started about 10 o'clock last Tuesday evening. I was watching television (no, not Entertainment Tonight. That airs earlier at night. Private joke I have with regular readers of this column - who I dream up, along with the contents of most of my columns, week after week...). So anyway, I was watching t.v. with one eye while keeping another eye on the computer and my writing attempts. Suddenly one of those subtitle flashes (close captioning, I think is what they call it) appeared at the bottom of the television screen accompanied by very loud beeps. Usually, when that occurs, there's been a subtle change in the weather - like rain causing flash floods, a breeze that's mysteriously turned into a hurricane, flurries turning into blizzards... you get the idea - and the local television station's weather centre issues a warning that way. I don't always pay close attention to it, but that night, my curiousity got the upper hand. Luckily for me, because I couldn't believe what I read! According to the message - and please bear with me here, because I'm no astronomer - a massive explosion had taken place on the sun a few days earlier, and due to the sheer enormity of it, the energy travelled fast and further than usual, hitting the atmosphere in the mid-Atlantic region and causing a phemomenon normally only visible in the far northern countries in the winter, to be visible as far south as Baltimore: The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. Coincidentally, I've always had a desire to see the Northern Lights, and an excursion of sorts to do just that has always been on my to do list in life. I don't particularly like the cold, so by seeing the Northern Lights without having to expose myself to a blustering, endless Alaskan or Helskinki winter was an absolute bonus. This was destiny! But due to the overbearing glow of the city lights, the weather centre advised us to seek out darker places outside the city. It didn't take me very long to sell my friend to the idea (we had a star-gazing date once.). Despite the fact that it was 10 p.m. and chilly outside, we decided to hop in the car and venture out in search of the Northern Lights. Hence the chasing of the light ensued. We enthusiastically headed up Falls Road, one of Baltimore's longer streets, stretching from the Baltimore train station (Penn Station), all the way up to the Pennsylvania farmlands. We didn't even have to travel completely out of the northern neighbourhoods of the city, and we were greatly rewarded for our slight effort. We pulled over to the side of the road, got out of the car and looked up. A faint red glow loomed large in the Northern sky. I could scarcely believe my South African eyes. (Apparently that feeling of disbelief is quite normal for first timers, because it almost feels as if your eyes and the light are playing tricks on you. Come to think of it, they are!) I was awestruck, and thought to myself that the person who invented fireworks surely must have derived his inspiration from the Northern Lights. Not to complain or anything, but it was very slight, and apparently not the Aurora Borealis in all its glowing glory. (So until a proper sighting, it will remain on my to do list.) According to The World Almanac and Book of Facts (2002) the entire phenom is explained as follows: The sun produces a stream of charged particles, mainly electrons and protons (the energy the weather centre referred to), which approach Earth at speeds on the order of 300 miles per SECOND. Coronal mass ejections are large-scale, high-speed releases of as much as 10 billion tons of coronal material. Some of these particles are trapped by Earth's magnetic field, forming the Van Allen belts - 2 doughnut shaped radiation bands around Earth. Excess amounts of these charged particles, often produced by solar flares, follow Earth's magnetic lines of force toward Earth's magnetic poles. High in the atmosphere, coillisions between solar and terrestrial atoms result in the glow in the upper atmosphere called the aurora. The glow may be vivid where the lines of magnetic force converge near the magnetic poles. The auroral displays appear at heights ranging from 50 to about 600 miles and have given us a means of estimating the extent of Earth's atmosphere. The auroras are often accompanied by magnetic storms whose forces, also guided by the lines of force of Earth's magnetic field, disrupt electrical communication. (Apparently it wreaks havoc on radio and cell phone towers.) On April 6, 2000, an unusually intense geomagnetic storm triggered auroral displays visible as far south as Florida and Texas. In February 2001, the sun's mangetic field reversed, a strong indication that the sun had reached its peak of the current solar cycle. The higher level of sunspots is expected to have a continued effect on both aurora and electrical communication. So I may have another chance for an auroral sighting after all. I will of course keep you posted. © RSA-Overseas [ Top ] Don't dictate to the world, Mbeki tells US New York - The United States should not dictate to the rest of the world how the global war on terrorism should be fought, says President Thabo Mbeki. "There has to be an understanding that, since we are all faced with a common threat, it is necessary that all of us participate in determining what that threat is, what it consists of, and how we should respond to it together," he said in New York on Sunday. "And clearly you are not going to get all of us to act together if there is a feeling that we are being dictated to by somebody else." He added: "I would like to think that the US government would understand that, otherwise we are not going to get the sort of global coalition they are asking for, if it is based on somebody having the power to dictate to the rest." Mbeki was speaking after he met privately with US President George W Bush in New York. Mbeki said he had disagreed with the US before and was prepared to do so in future. But he dismissed any notion that Washington's tendency to dictate to the world played any role in the terrorist attacks of September 11. Asked if South Africa would permit US warships to stop in South African ports, Mbeki said he would deal with such requests "on a case-by-case" basis. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, Mbeki called on the UN to complete a comprehensive international convention against terrorism. But the debate on such a convention is bogged down over a definition of just what terrorism is. A delegation of Muslim nations - led by Qatar, Mali, Malaysia and Pakistan - has opposed naming some Islamist groups terrorist, preferring to call them freedom fighters. Asked whether he considered Palestinian attacks on civilians as terrorism, Mbeki said these were "wrong, whoever carries them out". Mbeki said he had told Bush that while the war on terrorism was important, "there are other challenges, such as African development, African peace processes and global poverty that have to remain in the centre of the agenda." Mbeki said Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had assured him he was determined to stop such attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "must also look at this question", Mbeki said. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] |
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