More than fifty years ago, a massacre shocked the world and proved beyond doubt the inherent monstrosity of the apartheid system. It may have taken another 30 years for it to fall, but it was Sharpeville that first made its ultimate destruction inevitable. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Cutting through the fog of political posturing is tough, but it’s what we have to do to report fairly and accurately. I also do it because when I’m not reporting, I am an ordinary citizen trying his best to make informed decisions. In the youth wage subsidy dispute, I might have found a way to understand the DA better. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

An announcement from American demographers and statisticians working for the US Census Bureau – that white births are now outnumbered by all minority group births – may well come to have some profound consequences for the texture of American society in years to come. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

In the wake of Tuesday’s march to Cosatu House, the issue of violence against DA marchers seemed to overshadow any other concerns. But by Thursday it was back to business as normal for the DA as they announced their intention to push harder than ever for the youth wage subsidy. By REBECCA DAVIS.

A story published by the Sunday Times in October last year may have been planted by friends of beleaguered crime intelligence chief Richard Mdluli. The paper has denied that the journalists who wrote the story took money to write the story. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

The Democratic Alliance’s march on Cosatu House has by many been seen as a turning point for SA politics. Supporters from both sides were injured and the DA has laid criminal charges. Why did it go through with the march despite the risks? It was a win-win, says GREG NICOLSON.

Richard Mdluli, the violent clashes between Cosatu and the Democratic Alliance, the proposed youth wage subsidy and a possible second term for Jacob Zuma all came up during a business breakfast meeting with the president in Bloemfontein. Pity, then, that these issues were not interrogated and most of South Africa missed it. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

After three weeks of absorbing body blows, the government has revealed it plans to appeal the landmark e-tolling court judgment. ALEX ELISEEV wonders who will end up holding their gloved fist raised.

Greece put a senior judge in charge of an emergency government on Wednesday to lead it to new elections on June 17 and bankers sought to calm public fears after the president said political chaos risked causing panic and a run on deposits. By Harry Papachristou and Lefteris Papadimas.

In its spring edition, the Columbia Human Rights Law Review dedicates its 436 pages to one of the most thorough investigations of a criminal case in United States history. The issue at hand is the execution by lethal injection of an innocent man. The hope of the team is that its investigation will force the abolition of the death penalty. But can it be enough? By KEVIN BLOOM.

True to its word, the Democratic Alliance has laid criminal charges against Cosatu leaders following the violence that marred Tuesday’s march. According to the DA, this is a fight over the rules of engagement. Cosatu says this is more nebulous politicking. The ANC says nothing. What’s going on? By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

If you can avoid the rocks, marching is an essential pastime for all South Africans, writes musical comedian DEEP FRIED MAN, who is not averse to the occasional toyi-toyi himself.

A day of sticks, stones and broken bones as seen by our photo-reporters.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced on Monday that he has now ended active campaigning for the presidency against Mitt Romney,  the only other Republican Party candidate left in the campaign. But Paul vowed he would fight on with his so-called “delegate strategy”. J BROOKS SPECTOR looks deeper into the reasons why.

This week, leaders of the Persian Gulf gathered in Riyadh to discuss a Saudi-led initiative to create a union of gulf states, rumoured to be modelled on the European Union. Onlookers expected the announcement of an immediate union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Instead, the meeting concluded with the Saudis conceding to the other members’ pleas for more time. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Unless the South African government gets its head out of the sand over the next chairperson of the AU, there’ll be another stalemate in Lilongwe – and our already battered reputation will take another hammering. By SIMON ALLISON.

Many people were surprised on Tuesday that the Democratic Alliance’s march to Cosatu House was dominated by black people rather than the party’s traditional constituency of liberal white people. It is a sign that race politics in South Africa is changing, a phenomenon which the ruling ANC appears not to be responsive to. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

Now that the dust has settled in Braamfontein and the blue tide has retreated back over the bridge, we wonder what exactly the point of all of that was. Who won? The DA’s march to the vicinity of Cosatu House says a lot about just how dysfunctional our politics have become. It’s also a sign that things can’t continue like this. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

The subsidy ought to be debated on its merits and how it will affect the labour market, the unemployed and the economy. But much like other policy debates have unfolded in this country, it has been politicised, polarised and locked into thoughtless ideological corners. OSIAME MOLEFE attempts to have a calm look at the proposal.

The Democratic Alliance marched to Cosatu House in Johannesburg on Tuesday to  promote the youth wage bill. There were plenty of flying bricks and words of war, but not much was said about the bill. By GREG NICOLSON.

First a Palestinian minister announced that a deal had been reached with Israel to end a weeks-long hunger strike by hundreds of prisoners. Then, various activists countered assertions of the reported deal, claiming the Palestinian Authority actually did not represent the hunger strikers and had no right to make such announcements on their behalf. The only certainty is that there is a crisis in the Palestinian leadership. By KHADIJA PATEL.

It was always going to be easy for Julius Malema to draw a big crowd for his first media briefing since being expelled from the ANC. And he did some of his best work: talking tough on Richard Mdluli and the whole “I just can’t wait to be king” bombshell. But the real test, as ALEX ELISEEV writes, is whether he can keep the country’s attention.

A war of words has broken out between trade and industry minister Rob Davies and national consumer commissioner Mamedupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi. She says she’s been unfairly dismissed. He doesn’t agree, and the DA has joined the fray. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

When FW De Klerk agreed to do his friends at the South African Gold Coin Exchange a favour and cut the ribbon on their 30th Scoin shop, you can be sure he wasn’t betting on being at the centre of a media storm that had erupted four days previously. REBECCA DAVIS probably wouldn’t have been there otherwise.

It promises to be a most unusual face-off: on Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance Youth is going to march to Cosatu House in Johannesburg to pressure the union federation to drop its opposition to the youth wage subsidy. The language in the run-up to the showdown has not been calm. Things could turn ugly. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

The charismatic politician-turned-businessman-turned-politician is having another go at the ANC presidency. He made a series of fatal blunders the last time around, which resulted in an abrupt climb-down from his soapbox. As the “Anyone But Zuma” campaign takes flight, it would perhaps be wise for him and his backers to avoid making the same mistakes again. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

A round-up of South Africa's news today.

After years of letting his views on same-sex marriage evolve, Barack Obama announced his personal acceptance of such unions in a quickly-arranged interview on US national television. And the moment his announcement broke, Republican – as well as Democratic – political strategists began to speculate how this astonishing moment might affect the 2012 presidential election. J. BROOKS SPECTOR contemplates how it all may play out.

Could its skipper have sailed 'SAS Sanral' on a different course and avoided the Titanic-like disaster that is unfolding? CHRIS GIBBONS investigates.