Journalists everywhere are lamenting the loss of profits and influence at some of the world's best papers. They might take some solace in the fact that printed cartoons, at least, still matter. The intentionally provocative Danish cartoons that depicted the prophet Mohammed unflatteringly stirred the Muslim world into riots and rampage. The United States proved it wasn't immune to animation anxiety when a satirical New Yorker cover depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a secret Muslim caused an eruption of protest. The latest offender is a South African cartoonist named Zapiro, the pen name of Jonathan Shapiro. His most recent work shows Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress, preparing to rape a woman symbolizing the justice system. His most avid supporters are seen holding the victim in place and egging on their leader. 

The cartoon, which appeared in Sunday's Times, has dominated the national discussion this week because of its close echoing of reality. Zuma has populist appeal -- he won the party leadership from president Thabo Mbeki last December by embracing leftist policies popular with the poor -- but is embroiled in conflict. In May, he was acquitted of raping a friend's HIV-positive daughter. To make matters worse, Zuma, who claimed the sex was consensual, admitted that he knew she had HIV, but neglected to use a condom anyway. He claimed that by taking a cold shower afterward, he didn't have to worry about contracting the virus.  

Zuma is now on trial for corruption charges stemming from a controversial 1999 arms deal; if he's convicted, he'll be forced to drop out of the presidential election, which he's expected to win. Many have alleged that Zuma and his supporters are using their powers to influence the outcome. The leader of the ANC's Youth League, Julius Malema, vowed this week to "eliminate any force" blocking Zuma's path to the presidency. Although Zuma urged restraint on his followers, protests in support of him turned violent on Wednesday, with a mob of 3,000 in Durban throwing water bombs at police, who responded with rubber bullets and widespread arrests. It was the fear of this kind of activity that led to Sunday's cartoon. "I am outraged at what Jacob Zuma is trying to do to the justice system and constitutional principles," Zapiro told a South African radio station. 

By Zachary Kussin

As Jason McClure writes in this week's magazine, piracy off the coast of Somalia has become a major maritime headache. Just last week, on Aug 20, another three vessels -- a Malaysian palm oil transport, a Japanese tanker, and a German cargo ship -- were hijacked. The machine gun-carrying pirates threatened uncooperative crewmembers with death, locked them up and steered the vessels to pirate bases on the northern Somali coast. Shortly thereafter, they began ransom negotiations with the ships' owners. The Gulf of Aden, which lies off Somalia and leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, is now considered to be the world's riskiest area for international shipping, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting marine crime. So far in 2008, 15 vessels have been hijacked off Somalia alone.

Lawlessness and heavy traffic -- 7.5 percent of world shipping passes through the Gulf each year -- makes the area a fat target for pirates. They can operate in Somalia's territorial waters with impunity. The Somali government, unable to patrol the Gulf on its own, asked the United Nations for help back in June, and the result was Resolution 1816, which allows the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Pakistan and Canada to help patrol the dangerous waters. The measure will help cargo containers and other commercial ships, of course, but its intended beneficiaries are the ships delivering humanitarian assistance to Somalia, which depends on food aid to feed close to three million of its desperately poor inhabitants.

The multilateral initiative hasn't lived up to expectations, however. In its three months on the job, the Canadian security contingent, which will head up the patrol until December, has helped prevent just two hijackings. And as of now, no naval force has agreed to take over from Canada once its six-month rotation is up. Pottengal Mukundan, the IMB's director, attributes the lack of participation "to items in other nations' foreign policy agendas, such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which surpass piracy." For now, ship crews will have to keep rolling the dice, or avoid the Gulf of Aden altogether.

by Andrew Ehrenkranz 

Mukumbi, a desolate hive of straw huts, looks like a typical village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the poorest countries in Africa. But a few kilometers down a red-dirt road lies a deposit of some of the purest uranium on the planet. The Shinkolobwe mines produced uranium for the first atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The mine has been closed for decades, but with soaring demand for uranium to power new nuclear reactors and build weapons, this resource is beginning to attract attention. 

The United Nations and the U.S. government, among others, are concerned that uranium from the mines may wind up in the hands of terrorists or rogue nations who want the ore for weapons. Illegal artesian mining has long persisted in Shinkolobwe’s periphery, particularly for minerals like cobalt,  copper, and coltan, increasingly in demand for mobile phones, electronics, and batteries. In recent years there have been reports of uranium being confiscated at neighboring borders that was ultimately traced to Shinkolobwe. This week there have been unconfirmed reports in Kinshasa that the government is seeking foreign help to re-open the mine.

In London today former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan named the first recipient of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Jenna Crombie of Newsweek's London bureau was present for the announcement. Her report:

No doubt by now, the former President of Mozambique will have heard the good news. This morning former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan announced that Joaquim Chissano, who led Mozambique between 1986 and 2005, was the first winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Annan, chair of the Prize Committee, praised Chissano’s successes in reducing poverty levels, encouraging peace and reconciliation in wake of the ravages of civil war and in boosting the economy of his southern African nation during his two terms in office. Annan said he hoped this award would serve to celebrate good African governance and shed light upon the emergence of conscientious leaders.