South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- When he read that the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department was looking for recruits with rugby player physiques, Emile Engelbrecht knew he fit the bill at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds. But it was another trait explicitly sought by the department's brass that made him apply to be an officer: white skin. "Maybe I am the perfect candidate at this stage," said the 31-year-old. "They saw they made a mistake, and they need us white guys to help do the work." Having gone from a white-dominated force to a black-dominated one in the 13 years since apartheid's demise, the Johannesburg police force now says the pendulum has swung too far. Much of the change occurred in the 1990s as whites left in droves, often for private security jobs, and hiring black officers became a top priority.

MARYASHA GARELIK, 106 Lubavitch elder "Bubbe" Maryasha Garelik, who survived the pogroms of czarist Russia, Soviet anti-Semitism and Nazi terror and then dispensed her wisdom to thousands of Lubavitch Jews, died Wednesday in Brooklyn, N.Y. Some of her descendants are Lubavitch emissaries in Australia, China, England, France, Panama and South Africa.

Dr. Leslie Mancuso, 50, is a world traveler, but most of her destinations are not exactly haute couture hotspots. "I just got back from Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. I leave in a month for Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa," says Mancuso, the head of JHPIEGO (pronounced ja-pie-go), a Johns Hopkins affiliate and international health group that focuses on improving access to medical care for women and families in developing countries. "We're the jewel of Baltimore, and we've been here for nearly 35 years," says Mancuso, who joined JHPIEGO five years ago and lives in Fells Point with her husband.

SOWETO, South Africa-- --Since 3 a.m., Monde Dweku has lain awake in bed, listening to the hoots and hollers of students getting good news from newspapers arriving at the Engen gas station across the street. He said he would check precisely at 5, so he waits as the clock above his bed tick-tocks slowly to the hour. It is Matric Day, the day when newspapers across South Africa fly off the presses bearing the answer to two questions that have tormented 528,525 high school 12th-graders for a month and a half: Did I pass?

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Zimbabwe's president, Robert G. Mugabe, has moved to require that virtually all public companies cede controlling interests to "indigenous citizens," a plan the government calls black empowerment and Mugabe's critics label a bid to shore up his crumbling political support. The proposal, issued in draft legislation published Monday, would transfer a 51 percent stake in the companies to Zimbabweans who were "disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on the grounds of his or her race" before April 1980, when the nation won independence from white rule.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- Zimbabwe's ruling party agreed to modest democratic reforms yesterday ahead of national elections, including slashing the presidential term by a year, ending presidential appointment of legislators and expanding the lower house of parliament. The reform package, however, left intact the sweeping powers wielded by President Robert G. Mugabe, and failed to address the southern African nation's flawed electoral rolls, less than six months before national elections are to be held.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left little room for news coverage or informed discussion of what is going on in the rest of the world and how it relates to U.S. security interests. This goes double for Africa, which was largely ignored in policymaking circles even before Iraq and 9/11 began to dominate the foreign policy agenda. Thus, few Americans are likely aware that the U.S. relationship with Africa has become increasingly militarized. In the long run, such a focus is not beneficial for either Africa or the United States.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Desmond Tutu giggles often and cries easily. But that should not fool anyone. At 75, the retired Anglican archbishop who valiantly fought the evils of apartheid retains a feisty willingness to tweak those in power. Only now, South Africa is ruled by the black-led African National Congress, the same movement Tutu worked alongside during the long, bitter struggle to end oppressive white minority rule. "I'm so desperately anxious for our country to succeed, and it has the capacity, the potential," the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner said in an interview, explaining his blunt talk.

GENEVA -- Swiss and German bankers played a key role in propping up South Africa's apartheid government, according to a report last week by groups seeking billions of dollars in reparations and debt forgiveness for the current South African government.When most governments around the world were boycotting South Africa under United Nations sanctions, major Swiss and German banks continued to give billions of dollars in loans, the groups said.American banks started to scale back their involvement in South Africa from 1985 to 1986, but money continued to flow into the country.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- By its very name this country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission had two functions: to expose the crimes of the apartheid era and to help bridge the racial divide.Its 3,500-page report, issued in October, spread the blame for gross violations of human rights across the political spectrum, bringing it plaudits for evenhandedness.The ruling African National Congress even tried to get a court order suppressing the commission's findings. It was, argued the ANC, unfair for the anti-apartheid movement to be put in the same dock as the perpetrators of the system of white supremacy.

College basketball O'Neill, former interim coach at Arizona, takes over at USC Kevin O'Neill returned to the college ranks Saturday when he was announced as Southern California's basketball coach, taking over from Tim Floyd. Floyd suddenly resigned June 9 amid allegations that he paid to have O.J. Mayo delivered to the Trojans. O'Neill, 52, a defense-oriented coach, was an assistant this season with Mayo's NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies. O'Neill led the Toronto Raptors to a 33-49 record in 2004 and had stints with the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers.

Gerald Frank Lewis Trobridge, a mariner who sailed around the world in a boat that he built and later used his blacksmithing and machinist skills to help build the original Pride of Baltimore, died Sunday of complications from a stroke at St. Agnes Hospital. He was 94. Mr. Trobridge, who was known as "Gerry," was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. He dropped out of high school during the 1930s and became an apprentice blacksmith to help support his family after his father lost his job during the Depression.

My husband, Luke, and I live in Baltimore and last fall, we visited South Africa to see our son and daughter-in-law, who are Peace Corps volunteers. We spent a lovely day in Stellenbosch, one of the vineyard towns outside of Cape Town and also a university town. We enjoyed tasting wines and viewing the scenery. We never expected South Africa to look like this! We took many pictures as the sun moved across fields and mountains and vineyards. This was our Best Shot. The Baltimore Sun welcomes submissions for "My Best Shot."

As many as 150 jobs are expected to be created in Maryland in the next few years by foreign companies that set up operations in the state within the past year, state officials said yesterday. Thirteen companies from Israel, Russia and countries in Europe and Asia have opened Maryland offices in the past 10 months, compared with just two new foreign companies that the state helped to attract in 2007, officials said. Gov. Martin O'Malley and economic development officials said stepped-up outreach efforts are paying off. Companies in bioscience, energy, technology, defense and aerospace industries have opened in Howard, Harford, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince George's and Charles counties.

Obama report to detail Blagojevich contacts WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama will offer details this week about his transition staff's contact with Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, who is facing federal charges of plotting to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat for cash or a job. One Democratic official said yesterday that an internal report Obama ordered would be released no later than tomorrow. The official, who requested anonymity because the report is not yet public, said transition aides were eager to make public their findings about discussions with Blagojevich's office and move past the distraction of the scandal.

2008 Sebeka 'Steen' Chenin Blanc From: Western Cape, South Africa Price: $10 Serve with: Shellfish, Southeastern Asian cuisine Steen is the South African name for chenin blanc, a classic white-wine grape that gets far too little respect outside South Africa and France's Loire Valley, which is where it originated. This bright, fresh wine - the first 2008 to come across my tasting table - represents an exceptional value. It's an easy-to-drink, refreshing wine - made in a fruity but dry style - but it's hardly one-dimensional.

The fate of Southern Africa is hanging in the balance as a result of continuing upheavals in Zimbabwe and South Africa, where political instability and economic uncertainty are threatening to unravel the promise both nations once held out of being models for the region after emerging from white minority rule more than a decade ago. It's a situation that demands international attention. In Zimbabwe, negotiations between President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change collapsed over Mr. Mugabe's refusal to make good on a power-sharing deal signed last month that would have given Mr. Tsvangirai's party a significant role in the government.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Bitter rivals reached a power-sharing deal yesterday that leaves Robert G. Mugabe president of Zimbabwe and in control of its armed forces but gives his opponents hopes for enough power to rescue the shattered country. The complicated agreement makes Mugabe's rival, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change, prime minister and creates a government whose ministers meet twice in parallel structures - once with the prime minister in charge and once under the president.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - After three days of intensive negotiations to resolve Zimbabwe's political crisis, President Robert G. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai were deadlocked yesterday on the most fundamental issue: which one of them would lead a new unity government. The talks, which began last month with high hopes for a quick settlement, were adjourned with no date set for a resumption. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the official mediator in the crisis, left Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, yesterday without the power-sharing deal he had hoped to broker.

Cal Ripken Jr.'s personal mission to teach baseball to children around the world will continue next spring, when the Hall of Fame Oriole and other Ripken Baseball representatives visit South Africa. It will be the second time in about 18 months that Ripken will represent the U.S. and baseball in another country. The U.S. State Department and Ripken, who was named an American public diplomacy envoy by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2007, are expected to make the official announcement today.