SYDNEY (AP)—An Australian government program imposing radical restrictions on Aborigines in a crackdown on child abuse is inherently racist, breaches international human rights obligations and must be changed immediately, a U.N. official said Feb 24. In a report to be released this week, the United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous human rights, James Anaya, expressed serious concerns over the controversial initiative known as “the intervention.”

by T. Mgudlwa

DRAKENSTEIN, South Africa (AP)—Standing at the gates of a prison, South Africans celebrated how far they have come since Nelson Mandela took his walk to freedom 20 years ago Feb. 11.

Now 91 and frail, Mandela is rarely seen in public. He celebrated quietly at his home last week by reminiscing with fellow veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle.

WATERSHED MOMENT—A man holds up his fist in front of the statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela during celebrations outside the Drakenstein prison near Cape Town, South Africa, Feb. 11.

Thousands of admirers flocked to the former Victor Verster Prison in Drakenstein near Cape Town where Mandela was last held and where a 10-foot (3-meter) high bronze statue depicting Mandela’s first steps as a free man after 27 years behind bars now stands. On this day 20 years ago, Mandela walked out of Victor Verster hand-in-hand with his then-wife Winnie, fist raised, smiling but resolute.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (NNPA)—A traffic jam in the streets of Downtown Port-au-Prince makes it barely impossible to navigate the van from block to block. People walk along the edges of the streets, seemingly defying the moving vehicles only inches away.

Some sit on chairs or upside down buckets on the sidewalk, selling goods or cooking in large pots.

by Michelle Faul

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)—Yes, the earth-shattering quake was powerful enough to bring many countries to their knees.

But Haiti’s horrendous death toll and cataclysmic damage must also be blamed on a history of bad policies pursued by its own weak leadership and the foreign powers—governments and aid institutions—that have long held sway here.

This latest in a history of Haitian calamities may offer an unmatched opportunity to turn the tide in a country where decades of food aid still have left desperate mothers feeding their children chalk to stop hungry stomachs from rumbling.