An alarming number of people continue to be arrested for drug trafficking in South Africa, despite the recent severe Chinese sanction, where a South African woman was executed for her alleged role as a drug mule in Beijing.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) on Thursday revealed that in 2011 in Cape Town International Airport alone 34 drug mules were arrested after search dogs detected their loads of illegal substances (like cocaine, tik and khat) estimated at street value of ZAR 7.5 million.

The general public are still questioning the government authorities role in cracking down on illegal drug trafficking after Sheryl Cwele (50), spouse of Siyabonga Cwele South Africa’s Minister of State Security, was received a 12-year jail sentence after a court convicted her for recruiting young women as drug mules to smuggle cocaine from South America into the South Africa. This has sparked calls for the minister’s resignation, but the government has swept the issue under the carpet, political experts said.

She has been let out on bail (ZAR 100,000) and is appealing her ruling, while South African Broadcasting Company (SABC) reported that a frantic mother is doing all she can to help free her duped drug mule daughter (31-year-old Tessa Beetge) who was arrested in Brasil after she was caught with 10kg of cocaine. Beetge received an 8-year jail sentence in Soa Paulo

The daughter claims that she was recruited by Sheryl Cwele. Ironically Sheryl Cwele was immediately suspended from her job as director of the health service of a local municipality, but nevertheless she is allegedly still receiving a hefty monthly salary (allegedly ZAR 30,000/month), after a labour court ruled in her favour and reinstated her full salary following her dismissal.

Independent weather soothsayers will allegedly be given a jail sentence under a new law amendment to be passed in the Republic of South Africa.

This was revealed by Gareth Morgan, spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance (DA) environmental faculty. He claims that the current government wishes to amend the South African Weather Service Law in an attempt to illegally gain an monopoly over other independent commercial weather services available to the population.

Morgan says that members of the general public and municipalities could also be threatened by the law amendment as it would be prohibited to issue warnings of thunderstorms or even air pollution unless they obtain permission in writing from the National Weather Service. Even if it is in the best interest of the population an “offender” could receive ZAR 10 million penalty or even up to 10 years jail. Morgan argues that the amendment is unclear as it doesn’t define certain definitions, like ‘severe weather event’.

So the national weather service is practically discouraging citizens who encounter natural phenomena like hurricanes to report them to public radio stations and other media for warning broadcasts. “Nobody, not even the Weather Service, has real time weather knowledge or knows what’s going to happen at a given moment as the weather changes,” he said. “We says the DA wants the offences clause, in the amendment, to be removed.”

It is an acceptable joke that people are dying to get into cemeteries, but it is no joke that just recently the late entry into a local university led to a stampede of students and caused the death of a person.

Police are still investigating the cause that led to a stampede ate the University of Johannesburg (UJ) causing the death of one person and the critical injury of 20 others during the late enrolment application on Monday (Jan 9, 2012). The UJ was draped in grief, flying a black flag of mourning, as the empty corridors revealed that late applications had been suspended due to the crisis.

Marie Muller, a spokesperson for UJ, said that contrary to general belief it was a parent (47-year-old Gloria Sekwena) and not a student who had died in the tragic incident. She explained that the mother had been killed after she was stampeded by thousands of other people wanting to arrange registration at the university for the new academic year.
Some student applicants, who preferred not to be named, claimed that UJ should have organised the application properly and more orderly and not just collect non-refundable application fees whether admittance was granted or not.

One student said that she believes the stampede took place after applicants at the entrance had heard that the UJ office was closing late applications because their 17,500 head-count annual quota had already been met. Allegedly 7,000 people had tried to submit their late applications on the day of the stampede.

“Many applicants disregarded security and simply bashed the gates open and everything and everybody was just pushed by the disorderly crowd,” she said.

Another witness claims that after the person had been announced dead, UJ called paramedics to remove the body, wrapped up in a blanket. It took more than an hour before authorities restored some order, another witness said.

The interest group Higher Education for South Africa (HESA) said it was sorry to hear of the tragedy. It claimed that the late application was most probably due to the fact that many high-school graduates may have opted for late application to the lower entrance requirement institution of UJ after realising that other tertiary options required much higher entrance prerequisites.

Engineering factory owner Johan Odendaal, says he is in general disgusted with the deteriorating low standard national curriculum and claims that since the African National Congress (ANC)-led government has ruled South Africa science and mathematics in higher education has been forced to give way to subjects like Marxism and other ideologies that do not require strong academic performances.

“Today any Tom, Dick and Harry can get into a university, especially if they are black.” Said Odendaal. “I struggle to find decent qualified engineers. When I applied to university some 30 years ago, I had to work hard and pay a fortune to complete my studies. Now quality has been diluted and the nation has a major shortage of quality engineer training.”

“Not all school leavers should be accommodated in the current public tertiary education system especially if their high school grades are low. South Africa’s dire national education system needs to a complete restructure if politicians want the economy to remain competitive in the new Millenium,” he said.

But the ANC Women’s League disagrees and says that even applicants who don’t have the required grades should be encouraged to apply to universities. It claims that the stampede at UJ was merely another manifestation of how desperate black youth are to obtain a higher education to secure better paying jobs. The league urged: “don’t give up, try again next year.”

Instead of waiting for legal action UJ came forward with a notion. Muller said that it would waive the tuition cost of the dead parent’s 19-year-old son, Kgositsile, should he win entrance.

Minister of Tertiary Education, Blade Nzimande, had promised to visit the family of the deceased mother to formally express his condolences. On the contrary the youth league of political party Pan African Congress (PAC) has called for the minister’s resignation due to the unnecessary demise. PAC also blames the current government for what it calls “shambles in the education system.”

In reply Nzimande said in the foreseeable future he hopes to see at least 4.5 million students studying in the nation’s tertiary education system by 2030. In a statement he said that in 2011 some 900,000 students were studying at 23 universities. He expects this to increase to at least 1.5 million by 2030.

The difference would be absorbed via 50 so-called Further Education and Training (FET) colleges after the merger of 152 technikons. FET colleges would be connected to the job market, while offer and demand would be based on market requirements.
Nzimande has asked for public debate on his so-called green paper before April 30, 2012.

An increasing number of beaches along the South African coastline are claimed to be unsafe – from uncontrolled dogs.

South African law enforcement and special services on Thursday warned that they will take stricter measures against dog owners walking their canines on the nation’s so-called ‘blue flag’ beaches.

Cape Town Assistant Police Chief Neil Arendse said that more stringent measures are now required as bathers on the nation’s beaches are not safe.

He said that the latest (Jan 11, 2012) incident of a toddler mauled by a Rottweiler was just the tip of the ice-berg.

Luckily the girl was rushed to hospital and after life-saving surgery is now in a satisfactory condition, police said.

This unfortunate incident was the “result of the dog being walked on Clifton (beach), a blue flag beach not intended for animals,” he said. The dog was impounded as soon as law enforcers arrived to the scene. It will be handed over to the SPCA animal shelter, until police investigations have been completed.

Arendse believes that several dog-owners suffering from what has been dubbed “main-man syndrome” are intentionally negligent, declining to accept the fact that their pets are prohibited from the nation’s blue flag beaches.

Surfer Richard van der Merver told Budapest Report that many surfers on Clifton Beach have had bad experiences with unruly dogs and claim to be more afraid of the treacherous dogs than a possible shark attack.

Arendse said that in his jurisdiction alone some two-dozen dogs have been impounded after members of the public on blue-flag beaches alerted police.

Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi

Hungary refused to recall its Ambassador to Iran following a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on Thursday, news-wire MTI reported, saying it would cripple normal day-to-day operations due to its limited staff.

Despite this the Hungarian Government joins is European allies in utterly condemning the attack on the Iranian British Embassy, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi told reporters in Brussels, after the meeting.

Iranian protesters on Wednesday stormed the British embassy in Tehran, smashing windows, hurling petrol bombs and burning the British flag in protest against sanctions imposed by London.

This picture is an illustration.

A priest, his wife and two accomplices were due to stand trial on Monday (June 13, 2011) at a court in South Africa, sources told Budapest Report.
The priest and his accomplices have allegedly been charged with kidnapping, murdering and mutilating the body of a little girl for so-called “muti” harvesting purposes. The child’s remains were found in a deserted bush area in the Ekurhuleni area of Gauteng province.

Muti murders are quite common in Southern Africa, where unconfirmed reports alleged that even politicians have approached so-called Sangomas (traditional Zulu witchdoctor) to advance their careers. The Sangomas pay handsomely for the body parts of young maidens, especially the mutilated genitals. The priest had allegedly used the mutilated genitals and services of the Sangoma to boost the membership of his low attendance church.

Last year just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African government expressed serious concerns about African traditional healers and their roles in killing people for muti purposes. But underfunded authorities are struggling to carry out their pledge to root out the devious act, practiced under the auspices of “traditional healing” and “traditional exorcism.” Many former human muti practicing men and women have given up the practice, but authorities claim that young maidens are still being poached, just like rhinos for their horn – primarily for aphrodisiac purposes. Municipalities have allegedly set up special security services to safeguard children, especially young girls. Authorities have no official statistics, but alleged that at least 300 people are sacrificially murdered each year for muti purposes. Every month there are reports of vigilante groups who allegedly take the law into their own hands and reportedly lynch the perpetrators.

In its June 6, 2011 edition South Afica’s leading North-western newspaper Platinum Weekly (http://www.platinumweekly.co.za/article825.html)ran an article about the village of Tlokweng- Swartruggens that depicted a war zone after police were called to silence the angry population who had allegedly formed mobs to lynch a local pub owner who they claim was involved in a spate of muti murders in their area. Police had allegedly known about his involvement but were allegedly incompetent in solving the cases. Three members of the vigilante mob – demanding the expulsion of the provincial police commissioner – were allegedly killed by riot police gunshots.

The Republic of South Africa on Sunday (June 12, 2011) announced the establishment of a brand new, African continental Free Trade Area (FTA).

The country’s 69-year-old Zulu president Jacob Zuma told reporters that the new trading bloc would be the biggest ever from Cape-to-Cairo (a term first coined by British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes in the end of the the 19th Century) consist of African 26 countries with a population exceeding 700-mil, many of which are under-developed impoverished nation’s that heavily rely on South Africa’s help.

Zuma called for international and African unity claiming that no single nation on the black continent was capable of prospering in the 21st Century by its own. He said at the launch that the new initiative would see the Southern African Development Community; Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and East African Community could generate an annual trade value of USD 875-bil.

The president also said that he believes the free trade area would “help and accelerate regional integration” to ensure that African nations are not exploited globally by more developed capitalist nations.

Zuma told the 24 heads of state who were present that the new agreement was initiated in 2008 and now with its inception would be another “major step towards achieving economic freedom in our lifetime on the continent.” He also expressed that the continent must also continue building unity to get rid of poverty, disease, deprivation and conflicts.

African leaders however expressed concerns about the seriousness of the new announcement following major political turmoil and human rights violations by various African dictatorships including Libya, Madagascar, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Participants also warned of major stumbling obstacles including import restrictions, national competitivemenss and other burning issues like illegal diamond trade, rhino poaching, human trafficking slave trade and drug smuggling.

The rich have grown richer and the poorer are even more poor, according to an independent survey carried out by South African street vendors to review one year after the 2010 South African Football World Cup, to which FIFA had all rights of sales and merchandise. Mpho Tshabalala, a street Vendor in Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD) says he had had high hopes of making some real money and help secure a prosperous a future for his family, via the football spectacle.

Through a translator the 55-year-old Tswana man said, “I have helped my three kids through high school and now they all want to go to college, but I can’t afford it. Local council members promised that we will be able to make some real money during the football spectacle, but then withdrew their promises saying that FIFA has all the rights to sales in the vicinity of the stadiums and other football related merchandise.” He added, “I am in a worse situation than before the world cup as South Africans have continuing inflation, high unemployment, increasing petrol prices. A year ago I purchased quality beef mince meat for ZAR 35 per kilo, now I’m paying ZAR 45 per kilo at the wholesaler.” He argues that while in the UK the minimum wages are about GBP 6 (or ZAR 60)/hour; his wife Themba- who has been working as a teller at a local Checkers retail supermarket for 20 years – is earning only ZAR 16/hour.

Mpho says that he is speaking for thousands of other street vendors who have all complained that the 2010 soccer spectacle did not help reduce poverty and was merely another FIFA stunt to make billions, by exploiting the good will of the South African nation. “I’m a local South African, but I couldn’t even afford a ticket to one of the 2010 matches, said Tshabalala, pointing towards the revamped Ellis Park football stadium, almost a stone’s throw from his struggling micro business.

Vendors like Mpho have questioned why their own government is capable of squandering billions for a sporting event, but unable to help micro businesses and alleviate poverty stricken South Africans, almost 20 years after the fall of the dreaded Apartheid regime. Another vendor Simphiwe Golele says, “We are reportedly sending millions of Rands in aid for Japan, one of the world’s richest countries, when we have millions of South Africa living in shanty towns that also look like they had been in an earthquake.” He added, “We can’t always use the Apartheid regime as an excuse for poverty in South Africa, when thousands of black politicians are living like the American and European elite neglecting the poor.” Golele was shocked to learn that despite the growing poverty in South Africa, the national government has done nothing to promote industry. He exclaimed “While there is high unemployment in the textile industry all South African national football jerseys for the 2010 FIFA World Cup were being made in China, while we had the means of producing them locally just as cheaply. Now I hear that all the Springbok rugby jerseys for our team in the 2011 Rugby World Cup are now also being manufactured in China.”

Some financial experts say that it may be too soon to say but the legacy of 2010 spectacle may easily contribute to South Africa becoming another “Greek tragedy” after the country’s economy collapsed in the aftermath of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Joe Public enjoyed no financial benefits of the hype that was marketed by FIFA, they said. It is believed that South Africa had estimated that the soccer spectacle would help create 400,000-700,000 new jobs and generate at least USD 6-bil for the local economy. But the political promises and ephemeral figures brought nothing for some 60% of the 49 million South Africans who are still living below the poverty line.

The Austrian Government this week confirmed its decision to deny Turkey any entry into the European Union membership, based on a recent interview with the Austrian Foreign Ministry in Vienna.

Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor Michael Spindelegger (see picture) said, “We consider a possible special partnership (with Turkey) and by no means do we support full membership (into the EU).” As a member of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) he also suggested that the EU was in no way prepared to integrate a country like Turkey and questioned the possibility of Turkey’s ability to become a proper member of the European Union.

He also slagged Turkey for allegedly earlier denying Austrian member Ursula Plassnik the secretary general seat at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE.

However Turkey is believed to have complained to Hungary, as the European Presidency about Austria’s decision arguing that the EU – with Turkey – would have a stronger influence in the Balkan Peninsula, the Middle East and Russia’s Caucasus region.

The Austrian-Turkish dispute is nothing new. While Turks are generally the underdogs of Austrian society, slaving in menial jobs, the Viennese leadership has always had a heart of stone for the ‘invaders’, political historians say.

They added that in fact after the fall of Constantinople Turkey wanted to set foot in Europe as far back as 1456, when the Ottoman Empire was halted by a small band of Hungarians led by Hungarian nobleman Janos Hunyadi (who operated at his own expense – see insert) at the siege of Nandorfehervar (today’s Serbian capital, Belgrade). The failed bloody Turkish campaign was short, lasting between July 4-22, 1456.

To rejoice the salvage of Catholcism in Europe Pope Pius 2 allegedly ordered the ringing of the Turkish Bell at noon every day throughout Catholic Europe, which continues to this day, now known as the Angelus.

Historically the Turks received several beatings by the Magyars before they could conquer and annex only parts of greater Hungary. Allegedly because the Hungarians lords had betrayed each other and some of the anti-Hapsburg lords had assisted the Turks in conquering Hungarian part of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire to advance to Vienna. It took more than 70 years for the Turks to be able to advance as far as Vienna, where they staged their first major siege reportedly in 1529. The second failed attempt was reportedly in 1532, also allegedly flawed due to interference by a band of 800 suicidal Hungarians guarding the fortress of Koszeg (North-western Hungary).

Several temporary truces were allegedly signed between the Austrian and Turkish leadership over the years, but most of them were disregarded by the Viennese leaders.
Eventually in 1699 the Turkish Sultan could allegedly take no more of the in-fighting of the annexed Hungarian territories and, following the Peace Agreement of Karloca, ended his mass European campaign once and for all. After ruling the South-eastern part of Europe for some 150 years the Turks gave up their ideas of “being a part of Europe.”

Ironically The Hungarians never really received any real credit from the Austrian leadership.

While the black government of South Africa is looking for a single insignia to unite all sports under one umbrella it is in fact causing a greater divide in the population, where Rugby players and supporters are allegedly boycotting the purchases of the overpriced (recomended retail price of ZAR 600!! -when the minimum monthly wage is about ZAR 1,600) IRB 2011 Rugby World Cup national “Springbok” jersey -simply because it does not have their beloved Springbok (national animal) emblem on the chest near the heart. Instead it now has the king protea (the national flower of South Africa).of their team.

“This is supposed to be the gear of our twice world champion Springbok team and instead only a klein springbok emblem has been placed on the left arm sleeve,” said 56-year-old Morne van der Merwe, who has supported the Springboks since he remembers. “It’s all about politics. The black government believes that the Springbok is the symbol of Apartheid, that utter rubbish.” He added, “Apartheid didn’t even exist when the Springbok name and emblem were embraced by captain Paul Roos (see black and white insert- with Springbok insignia on chest) and his boys in 1906 on tour of the British Isles.” He said that he has started a campaign to boycott purchases of the new rugby jersey, calling for real Springbok to don their old jerseys, where the Springbok is still located on the front. “The Protea has already been adopted by the cricket world but rugby is a different genre,” says van der Merwe.

The fate of the 2011 New Zealand Rugby World Cup (due in September this year) version of the myrtle green and gold collar South African jersey was decided by the South African Rugby Union (SARU). In a statement SARU said “Government guidelines determine that the official South African sports emblem – the protea (note there is no mention of the springbok!!!) – be placed on the left side of the chest on national sports jerseys. The decision pushed the beloved springbok away from the chest to the left arm sleeve (see picture.

SARU had the option from the International Rugby Board (IRB), to choose only one insignia as the IRB reserved the right side of the chest of the jersey for its own logo (almost sounds like FIFA) on all team jerseys at the 2011 games. The South African government reportedly found “no place” for the world’s allegedly most famous rugby badge, so they decided to reduce its size and send it to exile on the left arm.

In 1994 radical African National Congress party (ANC) members tried to convince President Nelson Mandela to abolish the Springbok because it “represents Apartheid.” The savvy Mandela declined their ridiculous request and by doing so helped build national unity in the newly established democratic South Africa where blacks and whites all supported the Springboks, who won the IRB World Cup in 1995. They repeated their victory in France in 2007 and are currently the reigning world champions.

The Republic of South Africa mourns the passing away of Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu, better known as Mama Sisulu – and dubbed ‘the mother of the nation.’ One anti-Apartheid struggle veteran referred to her as, “Mama Sisuslu was globally just as widely respected as Nelson Mandela.” The widow of the fellow struggle fighter Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (who passed away at age 91 in 2003) passed away suddenly at the age of 92 on June 2, 2011. The couple had been married for 59 years.

She is survived by five children, an adopted niece and nephew, 26 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. South African president Jacob Zuma said, “Mama Sisulu has, over the decades, been a pillar of strength not only for the Sisulu family but also the entire liberation movement.” He added, “She reared, counselled, nursed and educated most of the leaders and founders of the democratic SA.”

In 1997 Mama Sisulu testified against Nelson Mandela’s ex wife after her house was allegedly set afire by thugs hired by the latter. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was accused of terrorizing her own people in the late 1980s in the South-western Township (Soweto) of greater Johannesburg. The court believed that arson was most probably caused after Mama Sisulu convinced some of her younger relatives to break away from a gang of hooligans, who Madikizela-Mandela collected around herself and code-named the ‘Mandela United Football Club.’ The group allegedly also murdered one of her colleagues in a hospital.

Mama Sisulu had no racial issues and is said to have loved black and white South Africans alike. Her husband was reportedly fathered by a white South African called Albert Victor Dickenson. However it seems the couple never married and Walter was raised by his Xhosa domestic worker mother Alice Mase Sisulu, who inevitably happened to be related to Evelyn Mase, the first wife of Nelson Mandela.

Some big things come in small packages, but the news that the Republic of South Africa’s Competition Office (aka Tribunal) approving the “merger” (actually a 51% acquisition) between America’s Walmart and Massmart Holdings comes in one of the biggest packages the southern African country has ever seen.

Much to the dissatisfaction of the American investors, the South African Trade Unions groups SACCAWU has twisted their arms before they could close the long-ongoing deal. Walmart will allegedly not be allowed to retrench any of Massmart’s employees for at least two years.

At the same time analysts say that the retail market has welcomed the pseudo-merger as retail prices in South Africa are higher than that of the UK, and need serious correcting. Wallmart has reportedly announced that it would establish a ZAR 1 million development fund and continue to accept the trade unions’ demands for at least three years following their merge. At least 500 Massmart workers, who were made redundant last year, will be re-employed, reports said. Walmart International CEO Doug McMillon, said he is pleased that South Africa’s competition office has finally “recognised the benefits” of their investments. He also promised that Walmart would help create new workplaces and help boost South African exports.

Charles Zentai, a Hungarian-born Australian who was set to appear at a court hearing to appeal against extradition to Hungary for alleged war crimes lost his ability to speak due to a stroke suffered on Friday, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Zentai’s son Ernies Steiner said a successful extradition procedure would kill his father. The Hungarian Military Attorney General’s Office intends to question Zentai over the alleged murder of Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in Nazi-occupied Budapest in November 1944. He has been fighting extradition since July 8, 2005 when he was arrested by the Australian Federal Police to await an extradition hearing.

photo by Alexandre Goulet - Fédération du scoutisme français

Unofficial sources claim that the newly wed Prince William and his wife kate Middleton had allegedly aborted plans for a honeymoon trip to Kenya due to being tipped off by US secret services that the Pentagon was planning to raid and liquidate US public enemy number one – Osama bin Laden.

During the televised wedding ceremony William was said to have been more tense than usual, which to the untrained eyes of the more than 2 billion international public viewers seemed to be nothing more than pre and post wedlock excitement.

The question remains, could it be true that the royal couple chose to spend their honeymoon in the UK on a small Welsh island instead of traveling to an alleged pre-arranged honeymoon destination in Kenya, where they presumably had their first kiss.

Wanted dead or alive… Osama Bin Laden has reportedly been killed by American special SEAL forces in Pakistan, in the early hours of Monday (May 1, 2011). His body was said to have been buried in an undisclosed location at sea in a quick-step funeral – allegedly with an Islamic funeral, so as to avoid any pilgrimages by his followers.

Bin Laden is said to have been the brainchild of the terrorist attack behind the murder of thousands of innocent people on Sep11, 2001 when his followers diverted and crashed two jumbo jets into the twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon. American forces have unsuccessfully tried to capture him for a decade. US President Barack Obama was quoted saying, “Justice has been done.”

However it seems that with bin Laden’s death the world has become a more dangerous place to live as increased terrorism activities are expected throughout the year, experts say. Millions of Americans rejoiced over bin Laden’s death. They added that due to the enormous political weight of the situation probably no country would have accepted his earthly remains, leaving the US forces no real option but burying his body at sea.

Ironically the man who is allegedly responsible for the murder of uncountable innocent people was killed on international Holocaust Remembrance day.

The Goulash Nation was recently shocked by weekly Heti Valasz after the paper revealed that the wife of Muammar Gaddafi has Hungarian roots – a secret that has been closely guarded by the blood-drenched Libyan dictator.

The paper said Safia Farkash (nee Zsofia Farkas) could even apply for naturalization under the new expedited citizenship law, if she spoke Hungarian at an acceptable level.

Farkash’s grandfather Janos Farkas lived and worked as a school inspector in Mostar, a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the largest and the most important city in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation.

Perhaps Friday 11 will replace Friday 13 as being the unluckiest day in Japan after a Historic Tsunami caused havoc in the Pacific, following an 8.9 magnitude earthquake some 150 km North-east of Japan. The entire world is sending their messages of support and sympathies following the terrible reminder of what nature can do.

Some 8 thousands of military vessels are involved. This is believed to be Japan’s most devastating earthquake in 150 years, where walls of sea water covered rice fields and several hundred thousands of homes have been ruined along Japan’s costal towns.

Gaddafi with then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin in 2008. Photo courtesy of www.kremlin.ru

The South African government has reportedly banned everything concerning out-going Libyan tyrant Maummar Gaddafi. Ironically the dictator was just recently accused by the South African government for violating human rights, ironically because he was allegedly the leading ally of the African National Congress (ANC – currently the leading party in South Africa) during the human right violating Apartheid era.

South African Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Thursday (March 10, 2011) announced that her government had banned Gaddafi from accessing his colossal financial interests in South Africa. The ANC-led government has allegedly also asked the African Union to oust its former ally from the union.

After 30 years of the military dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, the Arab Republic of Egypt is experiencing a power vacuum after the abrupt resignation of its president on Friday night (Feb 11, 2011).

Only a 24 hours earlier Mubarak vowed he would never resign, but world politics have allegedly convinced him to change his mind, Middle East experts said.

Mubarak allegedly narrowly escaped death after he was seated next to his predecessor Anwar El Sadat, who was reportedly assassinated (on Oct 6, 1981) by his own military. Eight days later Mubarak was inaugurated as the new president and reigned for almost 30 years.

The country is now reportedly being lead by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces. Despite the resignation was prompted by a pro-democracy protest in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square (now in its third week) the country will most probably continue to be under military rule – most probably led by his deputy Omar Suleiman, experts believe.

The United States is expected to announce its special new Middle East plan. The US is allegedly happy to see Mubarak step down, but can’t truly see where Egypt is heading and fears a possible crude price hike following in the event of an unfavourable new government. Currently some 6% of the world’s oil passes through Egypt via the Suez Canal, reports said. While the price of oil in Jan 2011 was USD 95/barrel in February it passed the psychological USD100/barrel.

According to government sources undisclosed by origo.hu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s trip to Egypt just days before the uprising was “hurried” by EU foreign policy leaders, although none foresaw the coming domestic crisis.

The sources, close to the Hungarian Government and the Foreign Ministry, said Brussels has not criticized Orban due to the timing of his visit. Orban, who was Mubarak’s last European diplomatic guest before the crisis, left Cairo on Tuesday morning – followed immediately by the uprising in the afternoon. During the visit, Orban had unveiled a plaque honoring Ferenc Puskas and met with several political and religious dignitaries.

In the meantime, international media such as Al Jazeera have compared the wave of protests in the Middle East to the Revolutions of 1989 (also known as the Fall of Communism or the Collapse of Communism) where the revolutions overthrew Soviet-style communist states in Eastern-bloc European countries.

The news network said the removal of Hungary’s border fence with Austria in May 1989 was a historic contribution to the fall of communism.