France and South Africa

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Tony Grant presents insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world. In this edition Hugh Schofield wonders about the real story behind the media frenzy over allegations about Dominique Strauss Kahn and Milton Nkosi reflects on why elections still carry a special charge in South Africa. Private lives - and pernicious lies Not only was Dominique Strauss Kahn one of the most powerful men in the world of finance. He was also seen as a possible future President of France. In Paris, Hugh Schofield has been thinking about some of the background to this extraordinary scandal - and reflecting on the enduring stereotypes about Gallic seduction which still circulate elsewhere in the world, however much they might be at odds with reality. "People died for this" - another poll in South Africa Across South Africa people have just been voting in provincial elections. There was all the fervour that you'd expect of a campaign anywhere in the democratic world. But the election process still has extra resonance in South Africa. Less than 20 years ago, the apartheid regime made it impossible for the vast majority of people to cast their votes at all. In the BBC's Johannesburg bureau, Milton Nkosi remembers those days vividly. He's been reflecting on how far his country has come - and how far it still has to go.