MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal on Nicholas Cage’s very well-made rubbish of a movie, <i>Next</i>
Free State provincial minister for safety and security Playfair Morule faces a culpable-homicide charge in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Friday. The case was postponed to August 24 for a possible trial, after Morule (47) appeared in court on Thursday.
Fighting erupted again on Friday between troops besieging a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon and Islamist militants holed up inside, as the stand-off entered its 13th day. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the fire fight at Nahr al-Bared, located on the Mediterranean coast 90km north of the capital, Beirut.
Kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston said he was in good health and being treated well in a video released on Friday, the first since militants abducted him in the Palestinian enclave over 11 weeks ago. It was the clearest evidence he was alive following his March 12 abduction.
The US treasury is investigating filmmaker Michael Moore for taking sick 9/11 rescuers to Cuba for part of his documentary, <i>Sicko</i>, reports Charlotte Higgins in Cannes.
President Robert Mugabe has urged Zimbabwe’s security forces to remain on high alert to thwart attempts to topple his government by the opposition and his Western foes, official media reported on Friday. Mugabe told a ceremony for graduating police officers that threatened strikes were part of a plot by the opposition to sow political turmoil.
South African civil servants launched a national strike on Friday, causing turmoil in some hospitals and emptying classrooms as unions demanded a hefty wage hike from the government. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which had called on 700Â 000 public workers to strike, said the early turnout was a success.
Publishing group hopes to digitise about a quarter of a million local titles, writes Tumi Makgetla
Lisa Johnston finds some of Sue Pam-Grant’s latest works to be darkly humourous
South Africa should be compensating public servants for the quality of the work they do rather than granting an across-the-board increase — as demanded by striking trade unionists — official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille argued on Friday.