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The article reports that American bureaucrat Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearing by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee concerning the Iraq war was fierce at times, but it was her listing of Zimbabwe as an "outpost of tyranny" that created the real firestorm. While she did not go into specifics, it is clear that the American administration finds the political situation in Zimbabwe, one of Africa's strongest economies, unacceptable. In a statement, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe called Rice and the American administration "fascists." Many believe Zimbabwe's freedom set the stage for South Africa's move to multiracial democracy in the 1990s.

This article presents the profile of various celebrities who have settled in South Africa. Jerrod Pope has walked the catwalk for top designers in Paris and landed major modelling jobs in Italy, Holland and Japan, but for the last six years, he's enjoyed considerable success living and working in a place that he never anticipated: South Africa. Like the rest of South Africa, the nation's fashion industry seems to have transformed itself overnight. The national drive to recreate and revitalize South Africa has reached new heights in the past couple of years. Foreign and domestic investment are up, property values are skyrocketing and creative fields like design, publishing and filmmaking are booming. Harlem native Judyie Al-Bilali first arrived in South Africa in 2002 as a visiting performing artist from the University of Massachusetts. She worked in Johannesburg and Cape Town, two of South Africa's largest cities, and loved the experience so much that she applied for a fellowship to enable her to return. Encouraged by the university, Al-Bilali launched Brown Paper Studio, a performing arts space where she urged her students to write down their dreams and memories on wrapping paper that covered the walls.

This article reports that Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis since 1980 and is turning to South Africa for much needed aid. Last week, a delegation from Zimbabwe met with South Africa's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni to request emergency aid for fuel, food and fanning supplies. Although government officials refused to comment on the content of the meeting, South African papers reported over the weekend that Zimbabwe will be granted a loan for hundreds of millions in South African rands.

The article reports that Brooklyn's Danny Simmons Corridor Gallery, in association with Manhattan's Hemingway African Gallery, is currently presenting an art exhibition of works (on sale) by young grade-school students from Kwazulu, Zululand, South Africa. Brian A. Gaisford, owner of the renowned Hemingway African Gallery, founded the noted import emporium in 1975. Gaisford explained how he initially took an interest in the Zulu school, which didn't have even the basics like paper and crayons for its art curriculum, and personally started a tax-deductible charity to raise funds to buy the badly needed art supplies.

A Black woman journalist has been appointed editor of the South Africa's "Mail and Guardian" newspaper, making her the nation's first female editor, and first Black female editor, of a major paper. Ferial Haffajee, 36, will take up her position at the "Mail and Guardian," an investigative, campaigning newspaper born during the height of the anti-apartheid struggle in 1985, on February 1, 2004. Haffajee started her journalistic career at the "Mail and Guardian" in 1991 as a trainee. She has since worked in radio and television journalism, for news agency Inter Press Service news wire and extensively in South Africa's print media.