Storm clouds seem to be gathering globally on a number of fronts in cyberspace as governments and international organisations battle to find ways to deal with some of the implications of completely unrestricted and unregulated free flow of all sorts of data and communication on the Internet. Much more is at stake than merely the spat between Google and the Chinese government, with tension between Europe and the United States over commercial piracy having come to the fore last week; hate speech in South Africa on Facebook coming under the spotlight; an anti-terrorist campaign in Internet cafés in the United Kingdom, and much more.

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While South Africans buying new cars as from September this year will be hit by the stick of an additional “emissions tax” of R75 per g/km carbon dioxide for each g/km above 120 g/km, France recently has taken a big step back from emissions tax to protect the competitiveness of French manufacturers. Britain has taken a completely different route as countries struggle to balance pressures for environmentally friendly policies and domestic economic and political needs and pressures.

Some very ominous and potentially extremely dangerous storm clouds seem to be gathering on the horizon of the global economy. There is evidence of unprecedented fundamental changes in the weather patterns surrounding United States government bonds, while there also are growing concerns that the Chinese economy, until recently expected to lead the global economy out of its slump, is developing the symptoms of a massive and dangerous bubble.

Only hours after former state president FW de Klerk, in a letter to President Jacob Zuma, warned that particularly the utterances by African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema were beginning to create a volatile atmosphere into “our national debate” and a situation "in which any additional intemperate statement or action might spark an unfortunate incident", a serious threat to peace in the country exploded onto local news pages. It took the political temperature to dangerous levels.

“Pope Benedict XVI’s latest apology for the emerging global scandal of child abuse by predatory priests – an issue that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) should have engaged years ago – is strong on forgiveness, but far short of the full accountability that Catholics need for repairing,” The New York Times wrote last week. As the now-adult victims of molestation by priests increasingly are coming to the fore, it is clear that the RCC is far from out of the woods on perhaps the greatest threat in its long history.

Soccer fever is sweeping through South African streets – be they tarred, dusty or potholed. South Africa is putting its best foot forward, and wherever panic rears its head, the Fifa local organising committee and politicians are doing damage control. But, if the Aids epidemic has taught us anything, it is that sex is a part of human behaviour that neither governments nor the law can control, writes Marlise Richter and Dianne Massawe. 

“Worth a read?” is not your ordinary book review; it is a meta-review. In other words, it provides an overview of the opinions contained in a variety of book reviews published in the media at large. This week we take a look at  “What They Teach You at Harvard Business School”, written by Philip Delves Broughton and released in South Africa in August 2009.

Many traditional cricket followers are sceptical about the new hit-and-giggle format or Twenty20 cricket and its global impact on the game. If traditional cricket is basically baseball on Valium, as the American actor Robin Williams once said, how would you describe Twenty20 cricket? Yet, the recently formed Indian Premier League as well as the Champions League that both host Twenty20 events are benefiting South African cricket enormously.

Against a background of South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC is feeling the increasing pressure of divided leadership, policy conflicts, factional struggles, violent service delivery protests, allegations of corruption and self-enrichment, the controversial antics of Julius Malema, and more, the country is bracing itself for the next round of local government elections next year – most likely to be held between March and June.