Mail & Guardian Online reporter, Reuters and Sapa

Claims that talks between Zimbabwe's opposition and negotiators for President Robert Mugabe had broken off were called into question on Tuesday.

A wave of xenophobic attacks spread through Johannesburg townships on Monday. Mobs beat foreigners and set some ablaze in scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era violence. A total of 22 people have now been killed in the violence directed at immigrants around Johannesburg, which began a week ago.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the Zimbabwe government both denied on Tuesday that they were in talks to arrange the resignation of President Robert Mugabe. At a news conference on Tuesday evening, Tsvangirai confirmed, however, for the first time personally that his party had won the elections.

Zimbabwe's ruling party edged ahead of the main opposition on Tuesday with over half of parliamentary election results released as concerns grew that President Robert Mugabe was trying to rig the vote. Riot police in armoured carriers patrolled two of Harare's opposition strongholds overnight and residents were told to stay off the normally bustling streets.

Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men, a gory meditation on moral decline, and There Will Be Blood, a gritty drama about a pioneering California oilman, led the nominations for the 80th annual Academy Awards on Tuesday, organisers said. Get the full list of nominations here.

Tourism officials said this week it is ''business as usual'' after severe floods hit the South Africa's southern coast. ''Although the damage to property has been significant, the fact that the floods took place before the official start of the holiday season could prevent huge economic losses for the tourism sector,'' said a tourism spokesperson.

South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said she would not refuse a nomination to head the ruling African National Congress and the country. Asked if she would be available for the ANC's top post, she said: ''ANC cadres never refuse when they are deployed.''

Norman Mailer, the pugnacious two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner who was a dominating presence on the United States literary scene across seven decades, died on Saturday of kidney failure, his family said. He was 84. In more than 40 books and a torrent of essays, Mailer provoked and enraged readers with his strident views on US political life and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

A court ruling on Thursday could allow the revival of corruption charges against former deputy president Jacob Zuma. The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by prosecutors against a lower court ruling that prevented them from using documents seized from Zuma, who was accused of bribery and fraud in connection with the arms deal.

United States television magnate Oprah Winfrey said on Monday that abuse charges at her all-girl academy in Johannesburg was one of the most devastating experiences in her life. ''This has been one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating, experiences of my life,'' she said in a video news conference from Chicago.

Following a tip-off from a member of the public, about 100 000 unused defective condoms were found scattered at an illegal dumping site in the Ntande area near Etafuleni in Inanda, north of Durban, on Saturday, the provincial department of agriculture and environmental affairs said.

South Africa's acting chief prosecutor said on Tuesday he would investigate police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi amid reports a warrant had been issued for his arrest for links to organised crime. Mokotedi Mpshe, acting director of the National Prosecuting Authority, said he could confirm an investigation of Selebi was under way.